And Yet
by Special Circumstances
Summary: Sakuno is pregnant and Ryoma is a father to be. Now what? RyoSaku. Rated T for the topic.
1. Chapter 1

A/N- I have no idea how I came up with this story, but one day, I was sitting in front of the computer...and -POP- this idea just suddenly came to mind.

Disclaimer-PoT and everything in it does not belong to me--it belongs to Takeshi Konomi

BTW. I was reading over this story, and there was one part where I didn't know if I should keep or not. But, it's good to take risks, so I just kept it in there. Just wanted you to know that if there is one part that sounds awfully awkward, it's because of that risk.

* * *

"Ryoma-kun." Sakuno said weakly. She had invited him to come over for dinner. Oba-san didn't mind, and plus, she wanted, no, _needed_, to tell him something.

"Yeah?" Ryoma replied. He noticed that Sakuno didn't look like herself. Her complexion was abnormally pale. He didn't know if it was because she was sick or just plain tired, but he _did_ know that Sakuno's face color was _never_ white. The lightest shade it has ever gotten was maybe pink. But never white.

"I-I'm pregnant." Sakuno breathed. She tried to smile and look happy. Unfortunately, her muscles refused to respond, and she was left with a frown on her always happy lips.

Truthfully, she didn't mind bearing Ryoma's child. But she was afraid. Afraid that Ryoma _would_ mind and just toss her aside. They've already been dating for quite a while, but Sakuno still didn't know how Ryoma would react towards this responsibility.

Ryoma gasped, unable to maintain his cool composure. "Y-You're pregnant?"

Sakuno merely nodded.

"Since when?" Ryoma questioned, barely believing a word Sakuno was saying.

"Since three nights ago." Sakuno whispered.

Ryoma remembered 'three nights ago.' "But we were careful. And we even--"

He was interrupted by the sudden thrust of a body onto his chest.

Sakuno squeezed Ryoma tightly as her hot tears began to dampen his right shoulder.

"R-Ryoma-kun… I al-already checked and re-checked. I-I even asked the doctors. I'm r-really pr-pregnant." Sakuno began to tremble slightly.

"We're only eighteen." Ryoma managed to choke out, reminding Sakuno of even more reason to cry.

_Bad timing._

Then he wrapped his arms around Sakuno and pulled her closer. "But don't worry. We'll figure it out."

Sakuno looked up from her tear-stained face. "Y-yeah."

Ryoma smiled. "Just remember that I love you. We'll pull through this."

Ryoma kissed Sakuno's forehead, hoping to make her feel better.

"I love you too, Ryoma-kun. B-but I'm scared. Whats oba-san going to say?" Sakuno sniffled.

Ryoma shivered. Just the thought of telling the old woman that he got her granddaughter pregnant gave him the creeps.

"It's okay. She'll understand." Ryoma coaxed. _I hope. _

"And," he continued, "before that time comes, do you want to practice the speech?"

"Yeah.. I guess." Sakuno smiled.

"Okay, I'll be Ryuuzaki-sensei, and you pretend to be telling me about… _that._" Ryoma suggested.

"Alright. Ano… Ry-- err.. Oba-san. I first want to thank you for taking care of me in place of my parents. Through these years, you've always been there for me and I'm really sorry for being such a nuisance. And I--"

"Woah. Woah." Ryoma cut Sakuno off. "Your not a nuisance! Try something a little less harsh on yourself." Ryoma shook his head, "Sometimes your just too modest."

_And yet, I find myself falling in even more love with you over and over again. _

Sakuno frowned. "Okay, then how about… Oba-san, I really love you. Your like my mother and I don't know what I would do without you. I know what I'm about to tell you might totally ruin this relationship we have, but I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me, beforehand. You see-- what I'm trying to say is that, I'm--"

"Tell me what?" Ryuuzaki-sensei walked in to Sakuno's bedroom. Her hair hung loosely from a ponytail. An oil splattered apron wrapped around her old, but muscular body. "And, by the way, dinners ready."

Sakuno and Ryoma just stared blankly at the woman. Neither of them uttered a sound.

"What?" Sumire asked, confused at why Ryoma and Sakuno looked so shocked. "Am I interrupting something? I just came up to tell you guys dinners ready and I heard my name."

"I-- we're-- ano…." Sakuno stuttered.

Ryoma nudged Sakuno's arm with his elbow. Then he reached down and squeezed her sweaty palms.

_I'm with you. _he whispered softly.

Sakuno took a deep _deep _breath, and mustered up all the courage she still had left in her, and smiled at her grandma. "Oba-san… I-I'm pregnant."

Sumire's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls. She hadn't expected this. No, not from her granddaughter, who had always been so innocent and caring. Hell, she didn't even know Sakuno was even capable of having sex, especially not with Ryoma. However, Sumire also realized that maybe it _was _time for Sakuno to finally climb out of her shell and be a little more open to life. On the other hand, maybe being pregnant at the age of sixteen was a little bit _too _open. But on the other _other _hand, wait, there were no other hands.

"Ryuuzaki-sensei. I promise to take care of her, honest." Ryoma finally spoke up, breaking the nervous atmosphere that was filling up the room.

"I'm so sorry." Sakuno ran over to her stunned grandma, and held on to her tightly.

Sumire, not being the type to cry, just inhaled and exhaled, calming down the blood surging through her veins. She managed to force out a tiny smile and said through clenched teeth, "What do you two plan to do?"

"We don't know yet," Ryoma sighed. "But we just want you to support us. That's all we ask."

Sakuno backed away from her grandma. "Please don't be angry." Her back fell into Ryoma's hard abdomen and leaned into his chest. Ryoma wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her head, breathing in her sweet aroma.

Sumire stared at the two lovebirds as they smiled at each other. She couldn't stand breaking them apart and just the sight of seeing her granddaughter so happy softened her angry heart. Sumire recalled her marriage, which, by the way, ended up in a divorce. She wasn't the type to believe in love, yet, she remembered how happy she was with her ex-husband. She didn't know why, but for some reason, the very image of Sakuno and Ryoma reminded her of how her husband used to hold her and how enjoyable those four years of marriage were.

Sumire continued to think about _her _lost love life, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that Sakuno and Ryoma deserved a chance. She would hate to see Sakuno go through any more depression, like the time when her parents died in a car accident. And the time when her dog was smashed into smithereens by a train. And the time when she lost her mother's watch because some girl stole it. And the time when a boy put a spider in her hair, causing her to walk around with a bald spot for a few months. And the time when some bullies at school kept tugging onto her braids, until finally, she was forced to chop them off. And the time---- Sumire could go on and on with the list of all the reasons that made Sakuno cry.

Then, a thought popped into her brain. After Ryoma had started to date Sakuno, she never saw Sakuno frowning nor crying ever again. It was like a miracle. Like Jesus had stepped into Sakuno's life and saved her from death or something. Ryoma had given Sakuno peace, happiness, and love. Sumire respected that and finally, with some other minor thoughts, she gave in.

"So, got any names on your mind?" Sumire asked.

Sakuno leapt out of Ryoma's arms and ran to her grandma. "ARIGATOU!!! I love you soo much!!!"

Ryoma walked over to Sumire and muttered a "sank you."

Sumire whispered into Ryoma's ear, "If anything harmful happens to Sakuno, you're dealing with me."

Ryoma smirked and grabbed Sakuno's arm. He tugged her towards him and caught her lips with his own.

Blushing, Sakuno held on to Ryoma, even though she knew her grandma was watching them.

Sumire let a light chuckle and headed downstairs to the kitchen. "Hurry up! The dinners getting cold."

Slowly, Ryoma and Sakuno separated and looked into each other's excited eyes.

"I can't believe we're going to be parents in nine months!" Sakuno squealed.

Ryoma smiled and ran a finger through her silky auburn hair. "Does that mean we'll be getting married?" he asked slyly.

Sakuno blushed. "I-I guess."

"Good." Ryoma replied and gave Sakuno a quick kiss, before lifting her up into is arms.

_In nine months… I won't be able to do this anymore. _Ryoma thought, as he carried Sakuno down the stairs.

* * *

A/N- Yay!! Sakunos finally pregnant. -does a few backflips and cartwheels- 

If any of you discovered that "risk" part... please feel free to make some revisions of your own and I promise to change it.

If you didn't feel like it was awkward.. then that means my risk payed off.

REVIEW. REVIEW.REVIEW.REVIEW.REVIEW.!!!!!!!!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- Okay, so this wasn't _supposed_ to be a story. I meant for it to be a oneshot, but I was being an idiot, and didn't mention that, so I got reviews saying I should _continue._

So here I am. Continuing. Don't be surprised if I stop somewhere in the middle of this story and don't update for like a century. Like I said before, this wasn't supposed to be a story. The reason I hate writing actual stories with chapters is because I can't come up with the ending. Oneshots are easier for me, because I can give it a somewhat cliffhanger ending and just let the imagination of the reader deside the rest.

Anyways, aside from all that, while I was writing this chapter, I realized that I had made Ryoma and Sakuno too young. So, I went back to chapter one and changed their ages to eighteen.

Don't forget to review!!!

* * *

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

"Crap." Sakuno tossed yet another pair of jeans into a basket marked, _After Pregnancy. _

She sighed at the growing pile of clothes that were too small for her. All that hard earned money gone to waste. Then, her hand made its way to her slightly bulging stomach, and she smiled.

"Sakuno!!" Sumire called from the kitchen, "Ryoma's here."

Sakuno hurriedly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. She made her way down the stairs and came face-to-face with Ryoma's intense yellow orbs.

"Hey." he smiled, and gave her a soft kiss.

"Hi." Sakuno replied. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to come by and see how you were doing." Ryoma said, brushing his fingertips over the bulge coming from underneath Sakuno's shirt.

"Fine. I guess." Sakuno frowned. "But, I think I need to go shopping. I gain like ten pounds every week."

Ryoma smirked. "When do you want to go shopping?"

Sakuno shrugged. "After lunch?"

"I'll take you, if it's okay with your oba-san." Ryoma suggested.

"Right." Sakuno grinned. "Obaaaa-sannn!!" she called.

"What?" Sumire called back.

"I'm going out with Ryoma for lunch and then we're going to go shopping, okay?" Sakuno asked.

Sumire let out a sigh, loud enough so Sakuno could hear it. "Fine."

"Great. I need to go get changed, you can wait here." Sakuno told Ryoma.

"Sure." Ryoma replied, and sat down on the soft, spongy steps. He leaned against it, almost as if he was sitting on a couch, and smiled up at Sakuno.

"I'll be quick." Sakuno hurried up the stairs and slipped into her room.

_What to wear… _she thought.

Right now the only clothes that actually fitted her were probably her sweatpants, some extremely baggy jeans that were given to her from god-knows when, a few T-shirts, and her sweaters. All of a sudden, a dress caught her eye. She reached in and took it out. It was a summer dress, decorated with cherry blossoms on a white background. She tried it on, and tied the halter strap around her neck. Sakuno couldn't remember when she bought the dress, but she loved how it hugged her curves and fit her pregnant body so easily. Sakuno fixed on a pair of matching white earrings and stepped out of her room, to find Ryoma coming up the stairs.

Ryoma smirked when he saw his beautiful girlfriend standing before him. They've already been dating for about a year, almost two. Ryoma knew they wouldn't have a problem balancing school work and child care. He _is_ a protennis star, earning much more money than any eighteen year old should be earning and was confident that he could support his own family.

Ryoma gently wrapped his fingers around Sakuno's wrist and led her down the stairs.

As they walked out the door, Sakuno remembered her Oba-san and quickly called back, "Arigatou, Oba-san!!"

Sumire just chuckled and shook her head.

Ryoma opened the door for Sakuno to his slick black BMW and waited for her to get seated. He walked around the front and hopped into his seat.

"So," he said, igniting the engine, "How does it feel?" Ryoma eyed Sakuno's stomach, then looked behind to back out of the driveway.

Sakuno giggled. "Fine, and I'm glad I don't have any of that morning sickness stuff yet. I was watching this show and some pregnant lady just started puking everywhere. It was gross."

Ryoma frowned. "Make sure you tell me before you need to hurl. And make sure its _outside _of this car."

Sakuno playfully slapped his arm. "Baka."

"I love you, Sakuno." Ryoma suddenly said, still paying attention to the road ahead.

Sakuno blushed. "Yeah." She squeezed his arm and smiled.

"Where do you want to eat?" Ryoma asked.

"Ano… it doesn't matter." Sakuno shrugged.

"Well you have to choose _somewhere._" Ryoma urged.

Sakuno sighed. "How about Kawamura's place. We haven't been there for awhile."

Ryoma shrugged. "Okay."

Ryoma pulled into the parking space and got out of the car. He walked around and opened the door for Sakuno.

"Thank you." Sakuno said, struggling a bit to get out of the car.

"Betsuni." Ryoma murmured.

The couple was welcomed by a slight ring of a bell as they walked through the door. Then…

"BURRRNNIINNGGGG!!! COME ON IN!!! BABYYY!!"

"K-Kawamura-san." Sakuno said, a little flustered by the sudden explosion.

Kawamura set down the tray he was carrying and walked towards Ryoma and Sakuno. "Hey! I havn't seen you guys for so long!"

"Hn." Ryoma replied.

-ding- The bell rang from behind Sakuno and Ryoma. Then a group of men walked in, laughing at some joke. And all of a sudden, they all stopped.

"E-Echizen?

"O'chibi?! And Sakuno-chan!"

"What are you two…"

"Fshhh. What does it look like, baka."

Ryoma and Sakuno turned around and came face to face with four of their sempais from middle school.

"Hoi! Hoi! I havn't seen you two for such a long time. And you never bothered to come visit me!" Kikumaru whined.

"Are you two on a date?" Momoshiro asked, suspiciously.

"None of your business." Ryoma replied.

"I have an idea. Why don't we all get a table and have lunch together!!" Oishi smiled, proud at himself for coming up with such a smart plan.

"Fshhh. I'm leaving." Kaidoh said, heading towards the door.

"Nah uh. Your staying right here." Momoshiro grabbed Kaidoh's shirt and dragged him to a table.

"Son of a bitch." Kaidoh cursed, as Momoshiro practically tied him to the leg of the table.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Momoshiro playfully replied.

Sakuno walked over to the table, and out of nowhere, Kikumaru screamed out.

"AHHHH!! SAKUNO-CHAN!! THERES A REALLY BIG BUG UNDER YOUR DRESS. ITS LIKE AN OVERSIZED BEETLE OR SOMETHING. QUICK. I'LL GET THE FLY-SWATER, AND YOU JUST---"

"Kiku--" Ryoma started, but Kikumaru was already running towards Sakuno with a fly-swatter in hand.

"DON'T WORRY! I'LL SAVE YOU." Kikumaru yelled.

People in the restaurant began to turn their heads to watch the crazy red-haired man.

"STOP!!" Ryoma yelled, and grabbed the fly-swatter from Kikumaru's grasp. "Its not a bug."

"B-but." Kikumaru looked at Ryoma.

Sakuno walked over and squeezed Ryoma's hand before doing the same to Kikumaru's shoulder. "It's not a bug. I'm pregnant."

Kikumaru's hung open. His expression turned hazy and he stared at Sakuno with the utmost suspicion. Then he chuckled, realizing it was all joke. _Sakuno-chan. Pregnant? Ha. Yeah right. _"Uh huh. Yeah, and my mom's pregnant too."

"We're not joking around, sempai."

Kikumaru rolled his eyes and stalked back to the table. He began stuffing sushi after sushi after sushi into his mouth.

"Eiji What happened?" Oishi asked.

"Fafuo-chan sams shes pememnat." Kikumaru continued to chew vigorously on the rice.

Oishi blinked a few times. "Pregnant?"

"PREGNANT?!" Kaidoh and Momoshiro blurted out.

Sakuno and Ryoma sat down at the table.

"Sakuno-chan… Y-you were kidding right?" Oishi said, hopefully.

"Yeah I mean, Echizen, you two didn't--" Momoshiro began, but recognized from the glare in Ryoma's eyes that this wasn't a joke. Sakuno was really pregnant.

* * *

A/N- I don't even know where I'm going with this story. It's just a bunch of nonsense talk. Oh well. 

REVIEWWW REVEWWW PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- I was actually done with this chapter two days after I posted chapter two, but for some reason, my internet was shut down on the computer that I typed this chapter on, and I couldn't transfer it to another computer. So, this chapter just sat there on my desktop, lonely and depressed, because I was the only one reading over it.

Anyways, what I did was I had to retype it onto another computer in the house. But first I waited for my parents to fix the internet on the computer that got shut down, but they never did. So the time I waited plus the days it took to retype this chapter bit by bit all equaled up to today, the day I finally post this.

Well, please show this poor chapter some love, and REVIEW!! after you've finished reading, of course.

Disclaimer- I do not own PoT. Though I wish I did.

* * *

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

"Okay, so let me get this straight… Sakuno-chan, your pregnant, and Echizen… You're the father." Momoshiro concluded, but not as happily as he had hoped. Sure, he was glad that Ryoma had finally discovered love and sex and all that good stuff. But, hell, he wasn't even married yet, and his girlfriend was pregnant. Now _that _was a problem.

Sakuno nodded at Momoshiro. Nobody would ever expect this from her. She was always the shy, innocent one… wasn't she?

Oishi stared at the couple in shock. "Wh--- How--- B-But…" Sentences failed to form on his tongue, therefore leaving him as speechless as everyone else at the table.

Kikumaru heaved a great sigh. He didn't want to believe it either, that his two favorite kouhais were already going to be parents. But, seeing that he couldn't do anything about it, "Sakuno-chan, O'chibi…" Kikumaru decided to just _let it go_. "IS IT A BOY OR A GIRL?!"

The change was so drastic Sakuno could've sworn the _baby_ jumped. "I-I'm not sure yet. But, I have an appointment tomorrow so I guess the doctors will tell me then."

"Nyah!! I wanna know now!" Kikumaru whined.

"Eiji…" Oishi coaxed.

"Umph." Kaidoh yanked his foot off the table. "Gambare." He left a few yen on the table and trudged out the door.

Ryoma didn't say anything, but he was thankful for Kaidoh's support—and Kikumaru's.

Momoshiro rolled his eyes at the leaving Kaidoh. "I suppose it's alright, Echizen, Sakuno-chan. But, on one condition."

"There _are _no conditions. You can't tell us what to do with our kid." Ryoma interrupted.

"Che- Oh, but there _are_." Momoshiro motioned for Kikumaru and Oishi to come over. He whispered something into their ears. Oishi's worried expression became ten times worse, and Kikumaru began bouncing everywhere, like a loose cannon.

"You two _must _make us, including Tezuka, Inui, Kaidoh, Fuji, and Kawamura the baby's legal guardians." Momoshiro smirked.

Sakuno's mouth dropped open, and Ryoma blinked a few times. "W-what?!" They both exclaimed.

"Exactly." Kikumaru grinned. He pranced over to where Ryoma and Sakuno were sitting and wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders. "We'll be just like a big, fat, jolly ol'family."

"Momo, we shouldn't push them. I mean they're already going through so much pressure and there's the papers they need to sign and—" Oishi started his normal motherly rant.

"Hush," Kikumaru ordered. He walked back over to Oishi and slapped a hand over his mouth. Then continued to beg Ryoma and Sakuno, "Please?? Oh pretty _pretty _please with a juicy red cherry on top?"

Ryoma just glared at him.

"Fine, I'll ad sprinkled too. And hot fudge!" Kikumaru continued to list a book of all possible ingredients to put on his "plead."

Sakuno whispered in Ryoma's ear, "I think its fine. I trust them."

Ryoma gave Sakuno an _are-you-kidding-me _look.

"No, listen. What if we _can't _handle the baby? I'm not saying we can't, but there might be some days where we'll need their help." Sakuno explained.

"Yeah, but think about it. _They _will be our child's _legal _guardians. With that 'power', just think of what they'll do when we're not looking. They'll ruin him—or her." Ryoma replied.

Sakuno sighed. "Ryoma, just trust me on this one. And trust them too."

Ryoma didn't know what to say. If only Sakuno knew about all the horrors his sempais put him through in middle school. But, he trusted Sakuno. And she's never been wrong before, well, except for directions of course. "Fine." He muttered, but knew he would regret it later on.

Sakuno smiled. "Okay." She said, turning back towards the anxious group of men, "You can all be the baby's legal guardians."

Momoshiro smirked and Oishi shrugged.

"YES!!" Kikumaru ran over to Sakuno and hugged her. "I love you Sakuno-chan!"

"Oi, Kikumaru-sempai." Ryoma nudged.

"Nani?" Kikumaru looked up to receive a face full of ice cold water.

"Come on, Sakuno, lets go." Ryoma heaved her up, and pulled her out of the restaurant.

"HEY! You didn't even pay yet!! OI! ECHIZEN.. COME BACK HERE!!" Momoshiro called. He got up to run after them, but Oishi pulled him back down.

"It's okay. I'll pay." Oishi said. "I was going to pay anyways."

**

* * *

**

"Matte! Ryoma, I'm not sure if I should be running that fast anymore…" Sakuno called. If just four months had already put her _this _much out of shape, Sakuno did _not _want to think about the horror of when she was nearing the end of her pregnancy. _Oh  
God. I'm going to look like an over weighted blown up elephant, _she thought.

"Gomen." Ryoma slowed down and walked the rest of the way to the car. He opened the door for Sakuno and gave her an apologetic smile.

"It's okay. I never knew being pregnant would be so troublesome." Sakuno said.

Ryoma kissed her forehead and shut the door when Sakuno was seated. He walked around and sat back in front of the wheel as he fired up the engine. "Where to?"

"Eto… I _do _need to buy a bunch of new clothes, since this baby is going to be ripping through ever shirt and pair of pants I own…so, how about the mall?" Sakuno suggested, but immediately remembered the last times he went to the mall with _Ryoma. _Well, _Ryoma _to her, but hott shot tennis pro to others.

**

* * *

****FLASHBACK**

"I LOVE YOU RYOMA-SAMA!!"

"KAWAII!!"

"Can you sign my arm?"

"YEAH ME TOO!! OH. And sign my bra too!!'

The whole time, Sakuno had been shoved into a little corner, unable to save her boyfriend form the cruelty of his fan girls.

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

"Okay, I take that back. I can order stuff online." Sakuno smiled, as she saw Ryoma's expression turn from disgust to blank. 

"It's fine. We can go." Ryoma stated.

"Really? But I don't want you getting—" Sakuno was cut off from her words when a soft, warm substance began caressing her lips.

"Don't worry about me." Ryoma said, breaking away from the embrace.

Blushing, Sakuno stroked his arm. "Thanks, I'll try to be quick."

Ryoma nodded and began to back out of the parking lot.

As the two lovers drove away, neither of them noticed the flashes coming from behind the bushes.

"Did you get them, Fuji?"

"Hai. I'm glad you guys called me here."

"You bastard Momoshiro! HOW DARE YOU TIE ME UP TO THIS TREE! GET ME OUT -mmph-"

"Shut up mamushi."

"Hoi! Are we going to follow them?"

"ORA ORA! BURNING! OF COURSE WE ARE!!"

"Taka-san, shouldn't you be at work?"

"I-I'm on break and Momo and Eiji dragged me out the back door."

"Tezuka, I'm sorry for dragging you here too. If there's anything we can do—,"

"20 laps around the mall."

"NYAH! Your not our bochou anymore."

"30."

"HAI!"

"There is a 0.12 percent chance that Echizen will stay in the car for safety precautions, but there is a 128 percent chance he will go in to the mall with Sakuno. There is also a 500.2 percent chance that he will get attacked by fan girls _and _boys of the like."

"Sugoi! Inui…"

"Alright. Lets go!! I call not driving!"

"NOT DRIVING!"

"I am _not _driving."

"Damn it. I'm not driving either."

"Hoi Hoi! I never passed the driving test!"

"If I drive, there is a120 percent chance I'll crash into a pole and blow up the car."

"Tez—.."

"No."

"Fine. I'll drive. I was going to drive anyway."

* * *

A/N- Yeah. I just wanted to tell you readers that I'm practically done writing chapter four. But, being the stupid person I told you I was, I typed it up on the computer that doesn't have internet. I was hoping that my parents would be able to get the internet up before I finished that chapter, but unfortunately I was wrong. So now, I'm stuck retyping chapter four just like I retyped this chapter. 

-sigh- Technology really pisses me off sometimes, yet I have no idea what I would do without it.

And I'm sorry if Kaidoh is cursing a lot. He just seems like that kind of a person.

Sorry that this chapter was basically all dialogue too. Hopefully chapter four will seem more descriptive. And hopefully I can get it uploaded ASAP.

BTW, don't forget to show some of that love. Believe me, this chapter needs it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- There is some major OOC-ness in here. Actually, I just realized that I unconsciously start typing OOC. Gah. Got to control the urge. I just wish Ryoma was more lively and Sakuno was more outgoing. Che- like that's ever going to happen…

Disclaimer: I, Special Circumstances, do NOT own PoT or any of its characters/plots/settings/etc…

Except for this story's plot, of course.

This chapter is longer than any chapter I have ever typed. I think someone requested me to write a longer chapter, so here it is. I was originally done with it long ago, but I basically added another chapter to it, so my original 7 page document turned into a 13 page document.

* * *

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

"One…"

"Are you sure about this, Ryoma? I really don't want you getting hurt."

"Two…"

"Ryoma?"

"Three. Come on, Sakuno."

Ryoma led Sakuno into the mall. He wrapped his hand tightly around her wrist, just to make sure he didn't lose her.

As the two entered the mall, Sakuno was surprised that nobody had noticed them.

She knew this silence would only be for a moment, so she took a second to inhale the fresh scent of linen and fabric coming from the stores surrounding her. She could smell the newly waxed tiled floor and saw how it glistened from the lights hanging above. This was the biggest, most expensive mall in all of Japan. And of course, this was the mall Ryoma took her to.

Sakuno continued her musings as she observed every sparkle and reflection in the windows. She spotted one of her favorite stores and tugged Ryoma towards it.

"This way." She murmured.

Sakuno pulled Ryoma and slowly crept into the store. She immediately dived behind a rack of clothes, yanking Ryoma along with her.

"You're supposed to be shopping, Sakuno." Ryoma muttered.

"I know, but look at all these people! They're going to tackle you and suffocate you and you're going to be sent to the hospital and you'll be in a coma and I don't know what I would do without you and the funeral—…" Sakuno was too busy being pessimistic to realize that Ryoma had already left her side.

"Here." Ryoma came up from behind Sakuno, holding a sundress in his hand.

Sakuno jolted and let out a soft shriek. "R-Ryoma…" she said, putting a hand to her heart to make sure she was still alive. "You—I—Oooh. That's really pretty." Sakuno began stroking the sundress as the material gently slid between her fingertips.

Ryoma shrugged. "My cousin wore something like this once. Try it."

"Arigatou, Ryoma… but is it really okay for you to be here?" Sakuno whispered, still feeling a little paranoid.

Ryoma just shook his head and let out a sigh. He tugged Sakuno in towards him and gently placed a kiss on her lips. "I will be fine."

Shocked, Sakuno stared into Ryoma's warm, yet fierce orbs. She realized that maybe she _was _being a little over reactive about Ryoma being in a mall again. She just didn't want random girls coming up to him, asking him to sign their bras.

_Jealousy._

Sakuno reminded herself that Ryoma loved _her._ And she loved him. And if Ryoma said that he was going to be okay from freaky fan girls, well, he was going to be okay. But just for in case…

Sakuno took one courageous step to the changing room, sundress in one hand, Ryoma's hand in the other.

"I don't think I'm allowed in the woman's changing rooms, Sakuno." Ryoma pointed out.

Sakuno stopped. "Sooo." Sakuno kept her hold on Ryoma's hand, and seeing that he didn't try to break away, she just continued heading towards the changing rooms.

_Bad move._

"Hey! Look—its _him!!!_"

Soon, a crowd was beginning to gather round Ryoma and Sakuno. Ryoma could see their faces, drooling with excitement. _Egh._ This was probably one of the reasons why he chose Sakuno. There was never a time where she would just stand there, staring at him. She understood _boundaries._ These girls had no sense of space whatsoever. And they obviously didn't have a life either. Ryoma could even see guys—_gay_ guys, gaping at him. Ryoma just didn't get it. What was it about _him_ that made him so _likeable? _He really didn't understand. Maybe he could ask Sakuno later.

"Are you his girlfriend?"

"Ooh. I love that dress."

"You're Sakuno Ryuuzaki, right?"

Ryoma noticed how the majority of eyes were now targeted on Sakuno. She was their victim now. Ryoma was surprised because for once, he was _free_, but Sakuno wasn't, which was still a problem.

Ryoma felt Sakuno reach for his hand and she squeezed it, _hard. _

"A-Are you pregnant??"

"Oh my god. I think she is!"

"Ryoma-sama!! Are you the father??"

"I, eto—uhm." Sakuno was speechless.

"SAKUNO-CHAN!!!" A girl with a unique volume of voice greeted her best friend with a life-threatening hug.

"T-Tomo-chan… What are you doing here?" Sakuno managed to squeak out. Her friend obviously hadn't figured out that she was pregnant or that she had just squeezed through an angry mob of anxious fans.

"Oh. Sakuno-chan… what have you been eating? You look like you gained a few extra pounds." Tomoka said, poking at Sakuno's stomach.

Ryoma glared at her and swiped her hand away.

"Hey! What was that for?" Tomoka returned Ryoma's glare with an even fiercer one. Sakuno didn't think that was possible, but Tomoka _had _always been the talented one. Though, glaring wasn't exactly a talent either.

"Sakuno-chan? Can I call you that too??"

"Me too!!!"

"Whoever actually had sex with Ryoma-sama must be special. Can I get an autograph?"

_Ok. Now, this is getting really uncomfortable._ Sakuno was speechless as the crowd began answering their own questions and making their own assumptions.

"Oh my god. You just _have _to give me your autograph. Like, can you sign each of my toes?"

_No. Not again. _

"Shut the hell up!" Tomoka roared at the crowd.

"What are you even doing here?" Ryoma asked Tomoka coldly.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know." Tomoka rolled her eyes.

"Stop it, you two." Sakuno stepped between Tomoka and Ryoma. "First, we need to get out of here," Sakuno stared cautiously at the crowd, "and then, Tomoka, I'll explain."

"Sign my shoelaces!!"

"Fine." Tomoka said, giving Ryoma one last glare. Its not that she hated Ryoma-- she just never got along with him. However, she did admit that he was attractive, and that she was obsessed with him in middle school. But that's _middle school._ Sure, he was still attractive, but she was definitely over him. Not that she ever had any real feelings for him. Not like Sakuno, who cried day and night when he left for America. Not like Sakuno, who would never get angry at him for ignoring her. Not like Sakuno, who _loved _him.

"Just leave this crowd to me." Tomoka whispered into Sakuno's ear, and turned to face the fans. They were all staring intently at the three of them, awaiting their next move.

"Now listen up all you fat nosed pig brains. If you don't get out of here right now and leave us alone, we'll call the authorities and have them personally escort you out of this mall. You hear???" Tomoka yelled.

Like mice running away from the biggest and angriest cat they've ever seen, all of the fans scurried off to their own businesses.

"Who was that girl?"

"Yeah! She's so loud!"

"And how does she know Ryoma-sama and Sakuno-chan?"

"Do you think she's just PMS-ing? I mean, seriously… who does she think she is?"

"Should we tell the manager?"

"No, because then Ryoma-sama might get in trouble too."

"So," Tomoka smirked at Ryoma and Sakuno, "as you were saying…"

"Tomo-chan, that was mean. I think you went a little too far." Sakuno murmured.

"Doesn't matter. They wouldn't have listened if I asked nicely." Tomoka explained.

Ryoma stared at Tomoka. _How could Sakuno ever become friends with _this _girl? It's basically impossible._

"Sakuno, you were going to tell me something." Tomoka reminded.

"Oh. Tomo-chan, just promise me you won't start screaming. And don't hurt me either." Sakuno said carefully.

Ryoma winced. What exactly was this Tomoka girl capable of?

"Okay, okay." Tomoka said hurridly.

Sakuno sighed. She knew she would have to tell Tomoka sometime. Either that, or Tomoka would find out from Horio. And she definitely didn't want _that _to happen. Knowing Horio, he'd probably bend the rumor and stretch it to the extent that Sakuno was actually pregnant from an elephant and she would have "ele-man" babies. (A/N- Odd? I know. Gross? I know. Are you doing to have to deal with it? Yes.)

"Tomo-chan. I'm pregnant." Sakuno whispered.

"WHAT?!" Tomoka screamed. She began to shake Sakuno vigorously.

"T-Tomo-chan. Y-You p-promis-sed." Sakuno said, between shakes.

Ryoma quickly grabbed Sakuno from Tomoka and slapped a hand over the loud girl's mouth. "Shut up." He said, coldly.

Ryoma sat Sakuno down onto a bench. (A/N: Yes, there is a _bench _in a store.) "You okay?"

"Uh huh." Sakuno said, feeling a little dizzy.

Tomoka ran over to Sakuno and kneeled down in front of her. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me!"

"It's okay. I'm fine." Sakuno replied gently.

"But, Sakuno… are you really, you know…" Tomoko asked.

"Yes, Tomo-chan." Sakuno replied.

"Oh. Well, congratulations." Tomoka said, hesitantly. "But Sakuno-chan… who's the father?"

"Ryoma." Sakuno replied, smiling.

Tomoka's eyes widened. Then she realized what a stupid question that was. _Who's the father? _Who _else _could possibly be the father. "Uh—"

"Tomoka?!?! Where did you go?" A voice almost as annoying and loud as Tomoka's called from across the store.

_Horio._

"Over here!!" Tomoka called back and she waved at the boy running towards her. Tripping over a few pieces of air and clothes pins on his way, Horio finally made it to Tomoka.

"Oi! Echizen! What are you doing here?" Horio asked, as he walked up to the bench Ryoma and Sakuno were sitting at.

Sakuno could see his thick unibrow from a mile away. Also, the way his hair was always gelled to the right into a tip, bothered her. But, being the tactful perosn she was, Sakuno never pointed out those features. Still, something else _did _bother her. The fact that her best friend was dating this kid was odd. Tomoka always shot for the highest classes of men, yet she still went out with Horio.

_Horio-- _one of the _lowest _classes of men.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Come on Sakuno. Let's go." He pulled Sakuno up from the bench and began to make his way past Horio and Tomoka.

"Wait! Sakuno, I still haven't finished talking to you yet." Tomoka contradicted.

"But, Tomo-chan," Sakuno glanced over at Ryoma, "I really need to go."

"Echizen! I need to talk to you too!" Horio said.

"About what? Your two days of grocery shopping experience?" Ryoma snorted.

"Sugoi! Are you psychic or something?" Horio said in amazement.

Ryoma sighed. "Sakuno, come on."

"Yeah." Sakuno said, following Ryoma to the exit.

"Wait! Sakuno-chan!" Tomoka grabbed Sakuno's hand. She smiled when she saw Ryoma holding her otherhand, trying to tug her away, gently. "Nevermind. Just call me. Please."

"Ok." Sakuno waved goodbye to Tomoka and stepped outside with Ryoma. The sun loomed right over their heads, showering rays of light upon their faces.

"Well, at least from now on, we know that we have to avoid the mall." Sakuno said, optimistically.

"Hn." Ryoma uttered. "Tell me one thing, Sakuno. How did you ever become friends with that girl?"

Sakuno giggled. "The same way you became friends with Horio-kun."

"_I _didn't become friends with Horio. _He _became friends with me." Ryoma corrected.

"Exactly." Sakuno smiled.

A small breeze blew and ruffled the cherry-blossom trees planted at the entrance of the mall. Slowly, petals floated to the earth, departing from the safety of their branches and venturing into their own journey. A full blossom floated down and Ryoma picked it up. He moved Sakuno's soft auburn hair behind her ear and settled the blossom in the crevice.

"Gomen, Sakuno." Ryoma suddenly said.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Ryoma." Sakuno said, confused. But her cheeks began to burn a deep red at what Ryoma was doing.

"I basically ruined your life, didn't I?" Ryoma frowned and he fixed the blossom a bit. "You can't even step into a mall anymore…"

"Nah. It's okay. I'd choose you over a mall any day." Sakuno leaned in and whispered _I love you_ before bringing his lips in for a tender kiss.

"Kawaii!!! Sakuno-chan is kissing O'chibi!!!"

Quickly, Sakuno broke apart and looked over to see the whole once-Seigaku team, with the exception of Ryoma, who she could've sworn had smoke coming out of his ears.

"You guys—," Ryoma clenched his fists.

"Did we interrupt something? I knew we should have waited in the car." Oishi exclaimed.

"So young, so young. Man, I wish I had a girlfriend." Momoshiro smirked.

"Impossible." Kaidoh hissed.

"Oh yeah. Well, the only girlfriend you'll ever have is that life-sized-cardboard-sad-excuse for a stripper laying in your room!!" Momoshiro retorted.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY WAS IN MY ROOM?!" Kaidoh screamed. _And how the hell did he find out? I specifically hid that thing in my closet…_

As Kikumaru and Oishi struggled to make peace, Tezuka decided to speak. "Echizen."

"Hai." Ryoma replied.

"Gambare." Tezuka somewhat smiled, and headed towards the nearby train station. "Work." He muttered, before turning the corner.

Ryoma smiled. If there was anybody he was worried about not supporting him and Sakuno, it was Tezuka. Ryoma didn't want to admit it, but, he still looked up to his old captain. Even though he beat him before, Ryoma had the feeling that Tezuka was always going to be the superior one. (A/N- No, this is not inferring any yaoi.)

"Echizen, I heard we are going to be legal guardians." Fuji said through his usual closed eyes.

"Hn." Ryoma replied reluctantly.

"Wonderful." Fuji smiled.

A cold chill ran up Ryoma's spine. He fought back from shivering at the creepy smile Fuji was giving him. Ryoma knew Fuji's smile. He knew that Fuji's sinister curve of the lips signified only a cruel beginning.

"We should set out a time to sign the papers. I know Sakuno-chan has an appointment tomorrow and Eiji has to go to a.. eto.. where was it you said you were going, Eiji?" Oishi tilted his head towards Kikumaru and saw that Kikumaru's complexion was probably the same shade, if not darker, as the hair on his head.

Kikumaru chuckled nervously. "Eto— I-It's okay, I-I canceled t-the appoint--, I mean thing already."

"Oh. I see." Oishi continued to ask what the rest of the group was doing.

"You have a what?"

"A dinner with my grandma on Friday."

"Oh. And what about you, Kaidoh?"

"Who said I wanted to be some guardian?!"

"Do you ever shut up???"

"Do you ever stop interfering with my fucking life?!!"

"EXCUSE ME?"

"…guys, --."

"Hey, Eiji." Fuji motioned towards Kikumaru to come.

Still a little embarrassed from the predicament he was in earlier, Kikumaru slowly trudged towards Fuji. "Yeah?" he asked, head still bowed.

"Where exactly _were_ you going?" Fuji questioned.

Kikumaru's head suddenly sprung up and he starting taking baby steps away from Fuji. "Oh. Nothing really. Just something with my sister."

"Oh really? Then how come _my_ sister said that a certain someone named _Kikumaru Eiji_ arranged a time to get a manicure _and _pedicure at her shop?" Fuji said suspiciously.

Kikumaru's eyes bulged right of their sockets. "I—ano."

"Mada mada dane, Kikumaru-sempai." Ryoma smirked.

"O-O'chibi! Why I oughta—," Kikumaru frowned as he fought back the crimson blush engulfing his entire face.

Fuji just smiled. _Tormenting people really is fun._

"Fuji-kun. Are you busy any time this week?" Oishi asked, completely oblivious to the ready-to-burst Kikumaru.

"Yes. On Wednesday." Fuji simply replied.

"Okay. So if I put everyone's busy days together, the only day that is free is Sunday." Oishi concluded.

"OH YEAH BABY!!! WHERE ARE WE MEETING??" Kawamura hollered. Suddenly a branch snapped from his fist and fell onto the sidewalk. "T-to sign the papers, of course."

Everyone sweatdropped at the dramatic change from Kawamura.

"The hospital, I think." Oishi said. "Fuji? Do you know?"

Fuji smiled. "Hospital."

"Okay. Then it is settled. We all have to meet at the hospital this Sunday at seven. Is everyone okay with that?" Oishi asked.

Everyone nodded.

"I'll tell Tezuka." Fuji offered.

"Sure." Oishi shrugged.

"Arigatou Minna-san." Sakuno bowed. She kicked Ryoma's foot, hoping he would suddenly remember his manners and thank his sempais.

"Ne, Sakuno. Why are you kicking me?" Ryoma asked, confused. He didn't remember doing anything to hurt Sakuno. And just a few minutes ago she was kissing him too.

Sakuno sighed and stood back up. "Nevermind."

Momoshiro broke out into laughter and fell to the floor.

"What's up with him?" Kawamura asked.

"Che. Who knows." Kaidoh answered.

"Hoi Hoi Sakuno-chan! Don't forget to call all of us about the gender! You're appointment is tomorrow right?" Kikumaru reminded. He had returned back to his normal jittery self and was glad Fuji and Ryoma had kept their mouths shut about the "appointment."

"Hai, Kikumaru-sempai." Sakuno smiled and was about to bow when Ryoma stepped on _her _foot.

"OW. What was that for?" Sakuno said through clenched teeth.

"That's what you did to me." Ryoma smirked.

"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that I loved you, you'd be slapped silly by now." Sakuno glared.

"Oh? Is that so?" Ryoma smiled. _And if it wasn't for the fact that our sempais were staring at us right now, I'd be kissing you. _

"Young love…" Momoshiro sighed, as he regained his composure from those random fits of laughter. Well, not exactly _random_, but apparently no one else had understood the humor in Ryoma and Sakuno's little conversation.

"I agree with Eiji. Call me about the gender too." Fuji chimed in.

"Sure." Sakuno smiled.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. He knew it would come down to this. First, the team. Then, the team's families. Then, the team's families' friends. Then the team's familys' friends' friends. Then, before you know it, the world. Secrets really _do _spread like wild fire.

"And me! Oh and Kaidoh too. I bet he's dieing to know the gender as well." Momoshiro pointed out.

Kaidoh rammed a fist into Momoshiro's right cheek and stalked away.

"HEY!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?? GET BACK HERE!!" Momoshiro ran after Kaidoh, which seemed to start out as a normal chase and grew into a "you die or I die" hunt.

"Echizen, Ryuuzaki, I have collected all my data and have come to the conclusion that your child will be a –mmph-." Inui's mouth continued to move behind Fuji's hand, but only mumbles could be heard.

"Syuuske!!" A car pulled up into the parking lot. Fuji's sister waved cheerfully at her brother.

"…I have to go. Inui, don't say a word." Fuji pushed Inui into the backseat of the car and slid in beside him.

"Nyahh! I wanted to know!" Kikumaru puffed.

"Now, now Eiji. We'll find out tomorrow, right? Sakuno-chan? Echizen-kun?" Oishi searched desperately for the couple, but they were no where in sight.

"Taka-san?" Kikumaru called. Kawamura seemed to be missing, as well as the pieces of the branch he had broken.

"Where did they go?" Oishi wondered aloud.

"Hoi Hoi! SAKUNO!!! O'CHIBI!!! TAKA!!!"

_Silence._

"HORA HORA. BURRRNING!!!" Kawamura rounded the corner with a bike and seemed to be headed in the direction of the sushi restaurant. Kikumaru noticed a thin piece of wood sticking out from under his hands.

"Taka-san!!!" Kikumaru called.

"NANI?? CAN'T YOU SEE I'M LATE? I HAVE TO GET BACK TO WORK!!!" Kawamura replied.

"Where's O'chibi and Sakuno-chan?" Kikumaru asked.

"GOTTA GO!! BYE!" Kawamura zoomed off and was gone in a second.

Oishi sighed. "Maybe they just went home. You know how Echizen gets."

"But they didn't even say goodbye!" Kikumaru whined.

"I know. I know. Hey. How about I bring you to that ice cream shop you really like. I'll pay." Oishi smiled.

Kikumaru's face glowed with greed and hunger. "YAY!! Let's gooo!"

"Alright. Wait up." Oishi ran after Kikumaru.

* * *

It was already pretty late in the afternoon. The sun was just about ready to emit its tender rays of orange-pink hue across the dim sky. As nature's daily process was beginning to unveil its greatest feat, a boy was kneeling in front of a girl, asking for marriage. Tears rolled down the girl's face as she wrapped her arms tightly around her soon-to-be husband. The boy rested his head on her shoulder as he breathed in the happiness that surrounded the park they were resting in.

But, mother nature gets bored sometimes. And mother nature needed a few laughs now and then. So, as the girl's face turned from pink to green, mother nature smirked, as the girl's lunch came spewing out of her mouth.

And –SPLAT-.

Luckily, Mother Nature wasn't _that _mean. Which is why the gooey substance had landed only centimeters away from the boy's back.

Phew.

* * *

A/N- Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

And I know that in the previous chapter Inui predicted Ryoma to be attacked by fans, but Inui's predictions usually aren't correct. In the series, there have been many times where the opponent was able to surpass Inui's data. I think.

Okay, just wanted to make that clear in case you were confused as to why Sakuno was being attacked… and not Ryoma. -.-;

OH. Review too. Hopefully this chapter didn't drag and cause you to fall asleep. .


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update. Please forgive me!! This chapter was harder to type than I thought, so I'm also sorry for how lame it is.

Though, I am really motivated by all your kind reviews. If it wasn't for you guys, I think I would've just gave up on this story.

THANK YOU SO MUCH: **Torogi; ch3rrylips; cupidsangel; Melissax3; Jomai; astig3422; Sprig; Shenhui; Renika; Zoe Cheung **

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Warning: There's one or two sentences of somewhat lemon. Its really nothing. But, if you must cover your eyes and run away, I put a big fat WARNING as to where the "lemon" starts and ends.

* * *

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

"I-I'm so sorry!!!!" Sakuno shrieked. 

Birds flew out of their nests. Strangers stared at the scene and walked away.

Ryoma smirked. He loved how Sakuno was freaking out over such a petite thing. Okay, so maybe if the throw-up _had_ landed a few centimeters closer and hit his back, he might've been just a wee bit aggravated. But, it didn't… and he found his flustered girlfriend quite amusing.

"Ne, Sakuno…" Ryoma said calmly.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" Sakuno shook Ryoma's shoulders.

Ryoma's white cap slid of his head, landing smack in the greenish yellow puddle of puke.

Sakuno continued to shake Ryoma senseless. "THIS IS BAD!"

"I know. I just bought that cap." Ryoma huffed.

"NO. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR CAP!" Sakuno panicked.

"Is this because you threw up?" Ryoma asked.

"NO! That's normal. It's the wedding!! How am I going to look good in a wedding dress if I'm PREGNANT??" Sakuno yelped.

Ryoma stared at Sakuno. "You're kidding."

"Ryoma, I'm not joking around! This is important!" Sakuno continued.

Ryoma didn't understand Sakuno's actions at all. Maybe it was the pregnancy. Maybe the baby was some super fashion dork and wanted to look good even if no one could actually see them. Or maybe the baby just liked messing with Sakuno's brain. But Ryoma had no real conclusion for this.

_Damn. Now I'm going to have to buy that __Pregnancy for Dummies __book._

"We'll need a tailor… or we could have it after—no. Unless we… or I could suck in my stomach—but is that even possible?" Sakuno rambled on and on.

Plucking his cap out of the throw-up, Ryoma carefully placed it in a nearby trashcan. He walked over to unlock the car and beeped at Sakuno to get in.

"I like blue, but white is more traditional. Do you like traditional, Ryoma?" Sakuno asked as she opened the door and slid into the seat.

Ryoma glanced at Sakuno and turned back to face the road.

"Ryoma?! Are you listening to me? You better turn that fat head of yours from the damn road and listen to me!!!" Sakuno smacked the dashboard.

Ryoma stared at her in amazement. He pulled over and Sakuno continued to whine even more.

"Why are we pulling over?!!! We don't have a flat tire! And your gas tank is full! If you don't want to drive, I'll drive! MOVE!" Sakuno shoved Ryoma.

Ryoma wished so much he had paid attention in health class. What was it his teacher called it again? Mood swings? Were they deadly?

"RYOMA!!!" Sakuno started to cry. "I don't wanna drive anymore!!! Where are my olives? I told you I wanted olives!!"

"Sakuno. Calm down. You never said anything about olives." Ryoma tried to get her to stay in the seat. Apparently seat belts weren't enough to restrain crazy pregnant woman.

"I want my olives!" Sakuno demanded, her tears had evaporated and turned into fury.

"Shhh. I'll get your olives when we get back. Ok?" Ryoma tried to remain patient.

"O-Ok. But you don't have to get them if you don't want. I-I can buy them myself." Sakuno said shyly.

Ryoma was about to get back on the highway, and he suddenly jerked back behind the white line.

"What?" Ryoma looked at Sakuno suspiciously.

"I said it's okay if you don't get the olives." Sakuno repeated, feeling ashamed.

Ryoma was speechless. Was she not just trying to shove him out of the car a minute ago?

"Mada mada dane, Sakuno." Ryoma smirked.

Well, at least that episode was over. But Ryoma had gotten a pretty good glimpse of what Sakuno was like when she was having her "moment".

On the way back to the Ryuuzaki residence, Ryoma made a few mental notes.

Buy pregnancy books.

Buy new cap.

Don't pull over.

Don't ignore Sakuno.

BUY OLIVES!

* * *

-PLOP- 

Sakuno kneeled in front of the toilet as chunk after chunk of her dinner from the night before spewed out of her mouth.

"Sakuno?" Sumire called from downstairs. "Are you okay?"

"H-Hai. I'm fi---

-PLOP-

…fine."

Sumire hurried into the upstairs bathroom. She saw Sakuno leaned against a cabinet, breathing heavily. Her forehead was soaked with sweat and she looked terribly pale.

"O-Ohayou, obaa-chan." Sakuno whispered.

Sumire wondered what had happened to Sakuno overnight. The night before, Sakuno had come home, almost skipping. She wouldn't stop smiling. She kept on muttering 'Ryoma-kun', followed by a sigh, and an even bigger smile.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

"OBAA-CHAN!" Sakuno flung in through the doors.

"Yes?" Sumire replied from the living room.

Sakuno scrambled into the room, with Ryoma in tow.

"Oh, hi, Ryoma." Sumire said.

"Hi." Ryoma replied. Just a minute ago Sakuno was so shy she wouldn't even look at him, and now she was so hyper he was afraid she would go into labor.

"I'M ENGAGED!" Sakuno brought Ryoma to the couch and curled up next to him. She fell asleep in an instant.

Ryoma didn't know what to do anymore. He had no idea how he was to deal with these sudden mood swings. It was driving him crazy.

Sumire chuckled. "Confused, Ryoma?"

"You have no idea." Ryoma grunted.

"It's normal. You're just going to have to get used to it. I remember when Sakuno's mother was pregnant, she was smashing dishes and ripping apart pillows. Then, when you gave her this broccoli-cheddar smoothie, she'd calm down and start gluing all the plates and sewing all the pillows back together. Her father was stunned. He ended up bringing her to a therapist, which just made it all the worse. She was kicked out for 'extreme physical contact' and her father had to pay five-hundred dollars in damages." Sumire smirked when she saw Ryoma's terrified expression.

Sumire laughed. "Don't worry. I don't think Sakuno's mood swings are _that _severe."

"Y-yeah." Ryoma replied.

"So… you proposed to her? Did you ever get my permission?" Sumire said slyly.

Ryoma shrugged. "I don't need permission from you."

"Oh really? Then who's covering all the expenses in this wedding?" Sumire interrogated further.

"Me." Ryoma replied, nonchalantly.

"How?"

"I have more money than you think."

"Who's planning it?"

"Wedding planner."

"Who's going to pick the dress?"

"Her."

"You're going to need it altered."

"Tailor."

"Does your family know about this?"

"Yeah."

"Are they going to be there?"

"Yeah. Except oyaji."

"Why?"

"You should know."

"Who's going to walk Sakuno down the aisle? Her father is already deceased."

Silence.

"I could walk her."

"Then walk her."

"What if I'm not going?"

"Paid actor."

"Why you—"

Sakuno stirred against Ryoma's shoulder. Suddenly, her eyes flipped open.

"OLIVE!" She ran into the kitchen and swung open the refrigerator door. She came back into the living room, carrying a jar of olives.

Ryoma and Sumire sweatdropped.

"What? They're good." Sakuno replied.

"I have to go." Ryoma muttered and headed towards the door.

"Wait." Sakuno put her olives down and followed Ryoma to the door. She waited for him to finish putting his shoes on, and when he lifted his head up, she caught his lips and smiled. "Oyasumi."

Ryoma smiled. At least from now until the end of the pregnancy, he'd still receive flashes of Sakuno's real self. Not that he didn't love Sakuno when she was being moody. He knew she couldn't control it, and he didn't blame her either. Truthfully, part of it _was _his fault too. It was just relaxing to be with Sakuno when she would just smile and nod. Or the times where she would kiss him on the cheek and whisper _I love you _in his ear. Those were the times Ryoma treasured most. And now, Ryoma had to make sure he literally locked up each and every moment Sakuno was normal. Because those moments won't be coming around so easily for many months.

Sumire watched them from the living room. _You two still have such a long journey ahead. _She thought.

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

Sumire helped Sakuno up. "I'm going to give you some medicine." She said, worriedly. 

"It's okay. I-I'm fine." Sakuno said, shakily.

"No. You're not. If you were older and stronger, this would be normal. But you're young and weak, and all this morning sickness could hurt your body." Sumire explained, as she slowly walked Sakuno downstairs.

"Arigatou, obaa-chan."

Sumire searched through the medicine cabinet. She took out a small, glass vile and took out two pills.

"Here." She placed them into Sakuno's hand and watched as Sakuno carefully swallowed them.

"Thanks." Sakuno hugged Sumire.

-DING-

Sakuno figured she probably couldn't run to the door, so she power walked to the door. She opened the mahogany door and smiled.

"Who is it?" Sumire asked from the kitchen.

"Ryoma." Sakuno replied.

"Hey." Ryoma greeted Sakuno.

"What are you doing here?" Sakuno asked.

Ryoma smirked. "You forgot?"

"Forgot? What did I forget?" Sakuno asked, puzzled.

"Appointment." Ryoma said.

"OH NO!! I totally forgot!!" Sakuno exclaimed, and power walked upstairs. She was headed for her room, but quickly changed course and turned towards the bathroom.

-PLOP-

She ran out of the bathroom, looking paler than before, and dashed into her room. Sakuno came out of her room wearing a floral skirt and a light yellow T. She began to walk downstairs, when she suddenly headed towards the bathroom again.

-PLOP-

This time, Sakuno came out, looking scarier than a ghost. She carefully walked downstairs, and stood in front of Ryoma.

"R-Ready?" She tried to catch her breath.

"Did you just throw up? Are you okay?" Ryoma asked, worriedly.

"She's been at it all morning. I gave her some medicine, but I don't think its working." Sumire popped her head out from the kitchen.

"I'm fine." Sakuno stated.

"You sure?" Ryoma asked, as he stroked Sakuno's hair.

"Yeah. Besides, the doctor will take care of everything when we get there."

"Ok."

"We're leaving, obaa-chan!" Sakuno called.

"Be careful!" Sumire called back.

Ryoma walked Sakuno to the car and helped her get in. He opened the trunk and got out a brown paper bag and jar of olives. He handed them to Sakuno.

"Arigatou-gozaimasu Ryoma!!" Sakuno hugged the jar as she smiled from ear-to-ear.

"Make sure you keep that bag with you." Ryoma warned.

"Haaii." Sakuno sighed.

After an hour of regular couple talk, Ryoma pulled into the parking lot of the Jekei Hospital. "We're here."

Sakuno nodded, and waited for Ryoma to come around to help her out of the seat.

Ryoma opened the door and offered a hand. Sakuno took it, and Ryoma heaved her out.

"I'm so sorry you had to do that." Sakuno apologized.

Ryoma gently moved his fingertips over Sakuno's stomach. "I wanted to."

Ryoma and Sakuno walked into the hospital. The smells of new plastic and hand sanitizers filled the air. Sakuno checked in, and a nurse motioned for her to follow. Ryoma followed Sakuno and the nurse into a small room.

The nurse opened the cabinets and took out a paper gown. "Take off your clothes and put this on. The doctor will be in here in a minute." She swiftly walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Sakuno looked at Ryoma and shrugged. She began taking off her T-shirt knowing full well that Ryoma was watching.

**WARNING**

Ryoma smirked. He came up behind her, and tugged the shirt off. Ryoma held her from behind and rubbed her stomach as he planted kisses up and down her neck.

Sakuno moaned when Ryoma unclipped her bra and began massaging her breasts.

Completely oblivious to the fact that they were still in the doctor's office, Ryoma slid off Sakuno's skirt and sat her on the plastic bed. Then he remembered Sakuno's condition, and sighed disappointedly. He reached for the gown instead and wrapped it around her.

Sakuno wasn't satisfied though. She reached up to bring Ryoma's lips in. Maybe this was another mood swing, because Sakuno suddenly had an urge to make love to him, despite her pregnancy.

**END WARNING**

-Knock knock- "Can I come in?" A man's voice vibrated from behind the door.

Ryoma quickly backed away, smirking.

Sakuno blushed. "Y-yeah."

The doctor slowly came in. He seemed to be in his late fifties. His face was heavily wrinkled, and there were huge bags underneath his eyes. Pinned on to his white lab was the name, 'Dr. Sato.'

"Hello." Dr. Sato smiled.

"Hi." Sakuno replied.

Ryoma just nodded.

"According to this paper, you two are here to find out the gender of your baby." Dr. Sato read from the form Sakuno handed in.

"Hai." Sakuno nodded. "Can I also ask you some questions?"

"Sure." Dr. Sato walked over to Sakuno. He rolled a machine out from a corner of the room, and placed it next to Sakuno. Then, he attached two pads and put them on top of Sakuno's gown. The machine beeped, and he removed them.

"Ano.. I've been throwing up a lot recently." Sakuno explained.

"I see. Well, lets check on your baby first, then I'll explain everything." Dr. Sato was about to open Sakuno's gown, when Ryoma's lightning fast reflexes kicked in, and he knocked his hand away.

"Don't touch." Ryoma demanded.

"Ryoma, he's the doctor." Sakuno stroked Ryoma's hand.

"I just need to check how she's coming along." Dr. Sato explained. Then he took a longer glance at Ryoma's face.

"Y-You're Ryoma Echizen!" He exclaimed.

"So what if I am?" Ryoma scowled. He was still pretty pissed that this hundred year old geezer was actually going to look inside Sakuno's gown.

"I-I… You're fa-famous. I-I'm your number one fan!" Dr. Sato unrolled one of his sleeves and there, tattooed on his arm, was a picture of Ryoma holding a tennis racket.

Sakuno had to pinch herself to keep from laughing.

Ryoma blinked. _Ew._

He shoved the doctor out of the room and locked the door. Then, Ryoma took out his cell phone and called his manager.

"Ryoma?"

"Yeah. Its me."

"What do you need?"

"A doctor. A _female _doctor."

"Why?"

"Just get me the best _female _doctor you can find and tell her to come to the Jekei Hospital."

"Ok, but why?"

"JUST DO IT." Ryoma demanded and hung up.

"Ryoma?" Sakuno whispered from the bed.

"_She'll_ be here soon." Ryoma promised.

"No. It's not that. I accidentally touched that button, and this picture printed out." Sakuno pointed at the machine Dr. Sato had used. She handed the picture to Ryoma.

"I think this is the baby."

Ryoma held the black and white picture in his hand. All he saw was blobs. "Really?"

"Yeah. See look. That's the head and that's the body, I think." Sakuno pointed to places in the picture, but all Ryoma saw was blob after blob.

Then, where Sakuno had pointed to the body, he saw something else.

Ryoma stared at it for a while and realization finally hit him. "Is that a—"

"It is. Ryoma, we're having a boy." Sakuno smiled.

* * *

A/N: HAHA. I feel so embarrased to put this chapter out. I'm sorry for the stupid -PLOP- sound effect. I just couldn't think of what throw-up would sound like, so I kinda just put in a random word. teehee. -runs and hides from tomatoes and such- 

I'm also not very familiar with what happens during a pregnancy. I sort of just assumed it and related it to whatever I learned in health. If any of my info is wrong, feel free to correct me.

Review, onegai???????


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: YEUSSS. Chapter six is FINALLY out! Hopefully you readers haven't died out on me. I've just been so busy, and I've been using every bit of free time I had to squeeze this out.

Disclaimer: Plot is mine. Prince of Tennis is not. Neither is McDonalds [mentioned in chapter.

* * *

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

Ryoma smirked. The truth was, he had actually hoped for a boy. Not only were boys stronger than girls (in his opinion), they were also less annoying and didn't talk as much (once again, _his _opinion). And, as we all know, Ryoma needed a strong, competitive child to continue his tennis legacy.

Sakuno, on the other hand, didn't care if the baby turned out to be a boy or a girl. As long as Ryoma was happy, she was as well.

"So you're sure it's a boy." Ryoma asked, but it sounded more like an "it-better-be-a-boy-or-I'll-be-angry" threat.

Sakuno winced. "Yea. Either that, or our baby has sex deformities."

Ryoma nodded. _Okay. So it's a boy. Because no child of the Echizen family has sex deformities._

Suddenly, Ryoma felt vibrations being sent up and down his right thigh. He quickly dug inside his pocket and fished out his blinking cell phone. He glanced at the caller ID before picking up: _Dr. Kyomi. _

"Hello?"

"Hi. May I please speak to Echizen-sam---…san?"

"What."

"Hi. I'm Dr. Kyomi. Your manager called me to come meet you at the Jekei Hospital."

"You can leave."

"What? Wait, just tell me what floor and room number,"

"Bye." Ryoma closed the phone.

Sakuno tapped Ryoma from behind.

"Yeah?" Ryoma turned around.

"Was that the doctor?" Sakuno asked.

"Yeah, but we don't need her anymore." Ryoma was about to put the phone back in his pocket when Sakuno suddenly snatched it from him.

"What about my questions?" Sakuno whispered.

"Oh. Right. Gomen." Ryoma took the phone back and redialed the number. "Here."

"Arigatou, Ryoma." Sakuno took the phone and waited.

Dr. Kyomi picked up immediately. "Echizen-san."

"Hi, I'm sorry about my fiancé's rudeness earlier."

Ryoma rolled his eyes at Sakuno.

"Fiancé?"

"Yeah. Ano, I'm pregnant right now, and I'm pretty sure I know the gender, but I have some questions about---,"

"Are YOU _his _FIANCEE?!"

"H-Hai…" Sakuno sensed a sudden wave of envious-fangirlness pumping through the other end.

"YOU BITCH!"

The doctor must have screamed pretty loud, because Ryoma immediately sat up from his seat and snatched the phone from Sakuno.

"What the hell did you just say?"

"Echizen-san? Is it really you?"

"No."

Ryoma snapped his phone shut and made a mental note to never trust doctors ever, _ever _again.

Sakuno sighed. She was used to all the girls calling her bitch this and whore that. Yet, each time those girls screamed those harsh words in her ear, a sharp sting would always penetrate her heart.

"You okay?" Ryoma asked.

"H-Hai. I'm fine. But who can I ask now?" Sakuno frowned.

"My cousin studies this stuff. Ask her." Ryoma shrugged.

Leave it up to Ryoma to think of a solution _after _the damage has already been done.

"Okay. So when can I talk to her?" Sakuno began putting her clothes back on, fully aware that Ryoma was watching her, yet again.

"I think she's home right now." Ryoma was about to attack Sakuno again, but before he realized anything, she was already fully dressed. Sakuno walked over to take the blobby picture and headed for the door.

"Let's go then." Sakuno grabbed Ryoma's hand and both of them stumbled out of the room.

* * *

All Ryoma could hope for, as he and Sakuno reached the Echizen household, was that his father would behave. That's all he asked, but he knew, that this was one wish – one dream – that he could never fulfill… no matter how hard he worked.

Ryoma sulked up the steps to the front door, and cautiously slid the door open.

"Itadekimasu." He immediately regretted making his presence known as his father walked down the hallway.

The first thing his father did was whistle, when he saw Sakuno. The second thing he did was smirk at Sakuno's bulging stomach. And the third thing he did was kiss Sakuno's hand, before moving on to smack Ryoma _hard _on the back.

Ryoma was furious.

Sakuno was confused.

And Nanjirou Echizen was gay. (A/N: Gay as in happy. Haha. I just thought it sounded better.. xD And made you think in all different directions.)

"Good afternoon, Echizen-san." Sakuno bowed.

"You don't need to call me that anymore. Just chichi is okay now, right?" Nanjirou smiled. (A/N: Chichi is dad, right? Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

"Hai, Chichi-san."

"Don't need to be so polite either. Why, a girl like you doesn't even deserve Ryoma." Nanjirou patted Ryoma's head.

"Oyaji." Ryoma snapped as he forcefully moved his father's hand away. The look in Ryoma's eyes sent shivers up Sakuno's spine.

"Why.. you're looking cheery today! Come and give me a big hug!" Nanjirou opened his arms, ready to accept any non-existent amount of love his son had for him. Unfortunately, "non-existent" literally meant, not existing.

Ryoma stared disgusted at his father.

"Ryoma-kun! Sakuno-chan!" Nanako smiled as she walked down the hallway to greet them. Then she frowned when she saw Nanjirou and she tightened her grasp on the magazine she was holding.

Nanjirou gasped when he saw the cover of the magazine. "Mine." He whispered.

"I found these in the refrigerator. If you're going to hide them, at least try some place more ideal so oba-san doesn't find them." Nanako warned.

Nanjirou grabbed the magazine now dangling from Nanako's hand and ran into the backyard.

"Nanako-chan!" Sakuno smiled.

"Wow, Sakuno-chan. You're getting bigger everyday!" Nanako smiled and hugged Sakuno.

"Arigatou, Nanako-chan! Oh. I almost forgot." Sakuno dug into her purse and pulled out the bubbly picture. "We went to the doctors today and got this picture." She handed the picture over to Nanako.

"I'm pretty sure it's a boy and I was going to ask the doctor some questions, but there were some problems, so we came here because Ryoma said that you studied this stuff." Sakuno explained.

"Well, it is a boy." Nanako smiled. "So what did you want to ask about?"

"I just---," Sakuno started.

"Go sit in the living room. We can't just stand at the front door." Ryoma took Sakuno's hand and motioned for Nanako to follow.

After being seated, Sakuno began telling Nanako about her puking. Ryoma said something about 'checking up on his dad', so he left with some tennis equipment into the backyard.

Nanako gave Sakuno some tips and an overview of what she should expect in the next few months. After a long time of chatting, Nanako offered Sakuno to stay for lunch.

"Sure, if it's okay..." Sakuno answered.

"No, its not." Ryoma walked into the living room. His hair was wet and he had put on a new set of clothes. Sakuno assumed that Ryoma had taken a shower after a gruesome attempt at seeking revenge for his father's behavior.. through tennis. But, of course, she was just guessing.

"Why not, Ryoma?" Sakuno asked.

"Because I'm taking you out." Ryoma replied.

"You are?" Sakuno stared confusedly at him.

Nanako smiled. "It's fine. You two have fun."

"Come on, Sakuno." Ryoma walked out of the living room.

"Oh. Bye, Nanako-chan! Thanks for all your help!" Sakuno bowed and followed Ryoma to the front door.

"It was my pleasure. Bye!" Nanako waved goodbye as Ryoma and Sakuno stepped outside.

"Oi! Sakuno-chaan!!" Nanjirou appeared from upstairs with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He was flexing his muscles, and grinning like a mad man.

"OJI-SAN!!!!!" Nanako pushed him back upstairs.

She sighed. Sakuno and Ryoma were definitely beginning to mature and grow-up, but there were some people who just never learned.

* * *

"Ryoma?" Sakuno asked when they both got in the car.

"Hn."

"Where are we going?"

"Out to eat."

"I know, but where?"

"A restaurant."

Sakuno was beginning to feel a little irritated at Ryoma's inability to answer her question. She could feel that sudden wave of another mood swing, but controled it for the sake of Ryoma and her own sanity and pride.

She had a pretty good prediction as to where Ryoma was going, anyways. Ryoma was never the elaborate, fancy kind of person. He was always short, simple, and to the point, which was why a few minutes later, Sakuno wasn't surprised when Ryoma pulled into the parking lot of McDonalds.

_Typical Ryoma._

Sakuno silently followed Ryoma into the heart-attack kingdom. Once she stepped in, the humidity coming from the grease and fats enveloped her entire body. Every strand of hair and fiber on her skin was exposed to the oily discomforts being exerted from burgers and fries. She stared at the couples gorging on their super-jumbo-king-sized triple cheese burgers and saw small innocent children giving into the evil temptations of extra-fried chicken nuggets and extra-salty French fries.

She knew what McDonalds truly was, though. McDonalds was just like Satan. McDonalds tempted its customers into the confines of its red and yellow roofed building. Showing lavish displays of delicious chicken and beef, only dragged the victims in, one by one. And soon, when trays full of thousands of calories had been emptied, and pushed into the stomach's of the customers, McDonalds would work its magic. First, by blessing its customers with the wonders of obesity. Then, McDonalds would sing kind words to their customer's heart, all the while sending them to beautiful, clean hospitals. And last, the most generous gift of all, McDonalds allowed its victims to live a few more years, before cutting the string, and sending them to the next life.

Yes, McDonalds was one hell of a place to eat.

Sakuno tugged at Ryoma's shirt. "Ryoma, can we go somewhere else?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because..I…well…Nanako-chan said I should eat healthy to keep the baby healthy as well. And I'm not sure if McDonalds is exactly the healthiest place to be eating…"

"I came here almost every day in middle school."

"But you're not pregnant."

Ryoma opened his mouth to speak, but Sakuno was already dragging him outside. "I can't take this place," she muttered under her breath.

Sakuno pushed Ryoma into the passenger seat, and she sat in the driver's seat. She stared at the steering wheel. Then she stared at the dashboard and the radio. She peered at the AC vents and she looked down at the brakes. _How does it start again?_

Ryoma smirked at Sakuno. He couldn't believe she didn't know how to start a car, but then again, she _was _Sakuno. Ryoma could've sat there for hours, watching her try to figure things out, but his stomach thought otherwise. Finally, he dug in his pockets and pulled out a pair of shiny keys. He dangled them in front of Sakuno's face.

"Missing something?" Ryoma couldn't help laughing as he saw Sakuno's eyes widen.

"Ahh." Sakuno said, embarrassed. She took the keys from him and started the car.

"So, where are we going?" Ryoma asked.

"Anywhere but McDonalds, Burger King, or any other restaurant with burgers or fries on the menu."

"But that's all the restaurants."

"No, its not."

"Where else?"

"Sushi, Ryoma. You're in Japan now, and we serve sushi at just about every other restaurant."

"So we're going to the Kawamura's place again?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Because he is our friend and we should pay our respects by going there to eat more often."

"We went there two days ago."

"I know. But two days is 36 hours, which is 2160 minutes, which is 129600 seconds!! That's a looong time."

"No it's not. Two days is only about point five percent of a year and about point one percent of a decade." (A/N: I did the math, I think all the numbers are correct.)

"Mou, Ryoma. Well it doesn't matter now. We're already here."

How Sakuno was able to reach the restaurant without getting lost was a complete mystery to Ryoma. For a girl that didn't know how to start the car, getting to this restaurant safe and sound was like winning the Nobel Prize.

Sakuno carefully parked the car into the small parking lot. She saw a few people in the restaurant. Some were chatting softly with friends, and there were some who just sat at the bar, staring at whatever was interesting. Lunch hours were way over, which probably explained why there weren't as many customers as usual.

Ryoma stepped out of the car, and walked around the front to help Sakuno. They had only taken two steps towards the restaurant, when a group of men jumped out from behind the bushes.

"HOI HOI! IS IT A BOY OR A GIRL?'

"Ki-Kikumaru----," Sakuno said, shocked.

"Eiji! Don't be so loud, this is a public area." Oishi looked around nervously to make sure they hadn't caused any trouble.

"Echizen-kun and Sakuno-chan. Ahhh, young love, young love." Momoshiro caught a shiny object fitted on Sakuno's finger.

_They're engaged?!_

Everyone else seemed to have noticed too, because all eyes turned to Sakuno's finger.

Afraid that so much staring might burn a hole through her finger, Sakuno side-stepped behind Ryoma.

"YOU TWO ARE ENGAGED!" Kikumaru threw himself on Sakuno and Ryoma. Sakuno's cheek was pressed against Ryoma's cheek and Kikumaru was hovering above with an enormous smile plastered on his face.

"Do your best." Tezuka stared at Ryoma.

"DID I JUST HEAR THAT YOU TWO WERE ENGAGED?!" Kawamura appeared from behind the restaurant's doors, and barged through the other former regulars and pushed Kikumaru out of the way, dropping his knife as he did so.

"Congratulations, I-I just wanted to give you my best wishes." Kawamura smiled and then headed back in the restaurant. "Come in, all of you."

He remembered his knife, so he walked back outside to pick it up. Then, after picking up his knife from the ground, he stormed back through the doors of the sushi restaurant. "HURRY UP!!"

"Ahhh, Taka-san's always full of surprises, ne?" Fuji smiled intently.

"Sakuno-chaaaan!!" Kikumaru whined. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Now, now Eiji. I'm sure they'll tell us when we've been seated." Oishi assured.

* * *

Ryoma rolled his eyes as he and Sakuno were the last ones to step into the restaurant. He just _knew _they shouldn't have come to this place. There's always trouble. Every single damn time.

The aroma of fresh sushi filled the room. Sakuno sighed deeply. Now _this _was much better.

Kawamura escorted the group into one of the VIP rooms.

All Ryoma wanted was a simple lunch with Sakuno. He didn't want _other people _in the picture, nor did he want big fancy rooms. He stared at the round table and he stared at the people who were already seated.

Tezuka was reading some type of poetry book and sipping the green tea that Kawamura had poured.

Fuji just smiled at everyone in the room and began sipping his tea as well.

Kikumaru was chatting animatedly with anyone whose attention he could catch.

Momoshiro and Kaidoh were arguing on whether or not crab meat tasted better in sushi, or salmon.

Inui was flipping through his notebook, looking for his notes on what types of sushi he should order.

Oishi was going around, making sure everyone had the right amount of chopsticks, plates, napkins, menus, etc..

Ryoma and Sakuno sat down next to Tezuka, who Ryoma felt, was safest to be around.

Once everyone had sat down, checked their utensils, settled their arguments, and ordered their sushi, Fuji stood up.

"For Ryoma, Sakuno, and their baby boy." He raised his cup of tea and everyone else followed suit.

Sakuno, after sitting down, looked at Fuji. "How'd you know?"

"Ahhh. Lucky guess." Fuji smiled and took a bite out of his wasabi sushi. "Want some?"

"N-No, it's okay. I-I'm not sure that's good for the baby." Sakuno smiled, glad that she was able to get herself out of that.

"I knew it." Inui murmured, without looking up from his notebook. "According to the proofs I've written and all these calculations, the probablity that it was a boy was 98.238764 divided by the square root of 87.3 over 89 to the power of 6 minus 4 … ,"

"Alright, Inui, we get it." Kaidoh muttered.

"So it _is _a boy, nyah?" Kikumaru bounced.

"Hai." Sakuno smiled shyly.

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Kawamura came from the kitchen to join the team. "I mean, it'll be just like another Echizen."

"Taka-san! Come on, sit down." Oishi urged.

"I just came in here for a minute. It isn't my break yet." Kawamura scratched his head and put down another batch of sushi that he brought from the kitchen. "Enjoy." He said, and headed back.

"Sakuno-chan! O'chibi! There's so so many things that we have to prepare for you guys. The wedding, bab---mmmfh." Oishi slapped a hand on Kikumaru's mouth.

"Shhhhh!" he beamed at Kikumaru. _That's a surprise._ He mouthed.

Kikumaru nodded. He had forgotten all about it.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

"_A surprise baby shower?" Ryoma asked._

"_Yeah. We want to make Sakuno's first pregnancy very special." Sumire explained._

_The rest of the team had gathered into her office. _

"_I want to plan it right here, at Seigaku. This is where you and her first started dating, so it'll make everything even more memorable." _

"_Hoi Hoi! I wanna help!" Kikumaru raised his hand._

"_Of course, of course. All of you are going to help. We'll need decorations and food. And one of you is going to need to get the cake."_

"_I'll do it." Fuji volunteered. _

"_Wonderful. Tezuka, I want you to be in charge of this whole thing."_

"_Hai, sensei." Tezuka bowed._

"_I'll buy the food." Momoshiro stepped up._

"_You'll eat half of it before you even make it to the school." Kaidoh insulted._

"_You wana bet?" Momoshiro sneered._

"_Quiet! Both of you will go and buy food. Kaidoh, please make sure Momo gets everything we need and Momo please don't fight with him." _

"_Inui and Kawamura, can you guys buy the decorations?" _

"_Sure." Both replied._

"_Okay, so that leaves Oishi and Kikumaru. I want you two to set everything up." _

"_Hai!" Kikumaru and Oishi nodded._

"_So why do I need to be here?" Ryoma asked._

"_You, Ryoma, have the most important job. You're going to have to escort Sakuno here and make sure she doesn't know ANYTHING until she arrives." _

"_Why does it have to be me?" Ryoma retorted._

_Everyone in the room glared at the stubborn kid. "BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO BE HER HUSBAND AND FATHER OF HER CHILD!!"_

"_Haii.." Ryoma pouted. _

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

"Hey, Ryoma." Sakuno nudged.

"Yea?" Ryoma looked up from his sushi.

"I've been thinking," Sakuno began, "about the wedding. I've already arranged a lot of things, I just need your Ok."

"Ok. You can do whatever you want." Ryoma went back to eating his sushi.

"That's great! Because I planned it for two months from now." Sakuno smiled.

Ryoma tensed. _The baby shower was two months from now._ "When?"

"Eto…I'm pretty sure it's the second week of May, on the 6th. It's a Sunday." Sakuno said.

Ryoma choked on his sushi and after a while of trying to get it down his esophagus, he looked at the rest of the team.

Surely they had all heard that Sakuno had planned the wedding on the day of the surprise baby shower.

* * *

A/N: Do I smell the ending? This story has gone on LONG ENOUGH! I'm planning to end it..soon. But don't worry, it's not going to be the next chapter. ;)

REVIEW like your life depends on it.

FLAME like you've never been pissed off before.

and last of all, spill out all your emotions. Yes, my story has been proven to have therapeuitc qualities.

Just Kidding. :P


	7. Chapter 7

A/N- I'm really sorry for the delay, even if some of you could care less about my story.

I'm not really going to say anything about this chapter, because it really isn't my best and it was typed under pressured circumstances. Some ideas are really stupid, sorry I couldn't come up with anything better.

-sigh-

I guess I can't blame anyone though, because in the end, all these excuses still lead back to me and those stupid classes I _thought_ I could ace.

Enjoy. – [That is if this story is even at enjoyable standards -.-

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all of its characters do NOT belong to me.

**

* * *

**

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

"Oh no, oh no, oh noooo!!!" Kikumaru wailed, flipping from court to court.

"E-Eiji!" Oishi stared at the acrobat cautiously.

"I've always said not to let your guard down." Tezuka looked sternly at the team.

"But, but, but, BUUUUUUTTTTTT!!" Kikumaru collapsed on to the floor, panting from his 'workout.'

"Why the hell," Ryoma glared at everyone, "did you drag me all the way over here?"

Inhaling deeply, Ryoma closed his eyes and tried to recall what had happened in the past…five minutes.

After a moment of self-recollection, Ryoma came to these conclusions:

_One_, he had been stuffed with sushi.

_Two_, he had been thrown into the trunk of Momo's jeep, with Sakuno.

_Three_, he had been driven to Sakuno's house and Sakuno was chucked out of the trunk.

_Four_, he had been extremely pissed and kicked Momo's balls.

_Five_, he had been whacked with a tennis racket and found himself waking up in a tennis court.

"Did you NOT hear what your fiancée just said?!" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"The wedding and baby shower are on the same day, so what? Just change the day of the baby shower." Ryoma pouted.

"We can't." Oishi sighed, "Ryuuzki-sensei had to set out a day for us to have these courts to ourselves. Everything has already been planned and it's all scheduled for May 6th."

"Then don't have a baby shower." Ryoma shrugged.

"NO!" the whole team yelled in his face.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Then just plan them both on the same day."

"Fshhh. Easier said than done." Kaidoh murmured.

"For once, I agree with you, Kaidoh." Momoshiro sighed.

"Echizen, think about it. Squeezing a baby shower and wedding into one day is very unreasonable. First of all, the baby shower can't possibly be _before _the wedding, but it can't come _after _either." Fuji said gently.

"Why can't it come before? Or after?" Oishi asked.

"Well, the wedding is obviously more important, so it's going to have to come before the baby shower, no matter what. And _after _the wedding, Ryoma and Sakuno need to spend some time of their _own._" Fuji grinned, sending pins and needles through everyone's bodies.

"MATTE MATTE! What do they need to do _after _the wedding?!?!?! Why can't we surprise Sakuno-chan _after_ the wedding?!" Kikumaru pounced on Fuji, shaking him vigorously.

"They're married. What else would they do?" Fuji smirked.

"FUJI!" Everyone exclaimed, except for a very confused Kikumaru and a fuming Ryoma.

"According to my data," Inui said, blushing a little, "It would be pretty hard to do _that _while Sakuno is pregnant."

At this point Ryoma could've sworn he had flames shooting out of his ears.

"How dare they," he thought, "talk about me and Sakuno like that."

Everyone turned to look at Ryoma, who was currently murmuring a sequence of curses directed towards the rest of the team.

"I'm still having a hard time understanding," Kikumaru frowned, "Demo, I know that since Inui says that it's hard to do whatever Ryoma and Sakuno have to do after the wedding, then they can just not do whatever they have to do and go to the baby shower instead!!!"

"Ahhh. But that would ruin the post-wedding night theme." Fuji said.

"Eh? Night theme? What do they do? Have a teeth brushing ritual?" Kikumaru asked.

Fuji smiled. "Only you do that, Eiji."

"That's not true! Oishi comes over and goes through the ritual with me!" Kikumaru walked over to Oishi, "Ne? Oishi?"

Oishi forced a smile.

"Are you idiots ever going to start planning?" Kaidoh murmured.

"Patience, Mamushi. Patience." Momoshiro slapped a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder.

Kaidoh immediately shook it off and glared at Momoshiro. "Don't. Touch. Me."

"Che." Momoshiro smirked.

"To plan the baby shower after the wedding, we will need to be precise with all our timing." Inui began. "I have calculated possibilities, and we cannot afford to lose even .019 seconds."

"Didn't Ryuuzaki already plan the wedding? How is this going to work if she might already have something planned after the wedding?" Momoshiro asked.

"Simple. _Echizen_ will ask Sakuno to plan the reception." Fuji turned to face Ryoma.

"Why should I?" Ryoma retorted.

"Why shouldn't you? You can't honestly let Sakuno plan the _entire _wedding, Echizen." Fuji opened his eyes for a second and closed them again, smiling.

"She said she wanted to." Ryoma replied.

"So you're just going to _let _her? She's pregnant and weak. She'll overwork herself." Fuji said sadistically.

Ryoma glared at Fuji.

Why did everyone always have to make such a fuss about everything? It was just a goddamn wedding. Heck, it wasn't like any of _them_ were getting married. It was his and Sakuno's wedding, and yet he found himself turning into one of their little planning messengers.

However, if Sakuno was going to overwork herself, and if Fuji was really serious about her health then…

"Haiiii," Ryoma growled, "I'll ask her."

Fuji just continued smiling.

"I knew it!" Kikumaru exclaimed. "I knew O'chibi could be nice! I knew it! Momo-chan you owe me money!"

"Nani? That's not fair, you betted on both sides!" Momoshiro complained.

"Shhh, you two." Oishi said calmly.

"Oh, and tomorrow is Sunday, isn't it?" Fuji reminded.

"Hai Hai it is! I can't wait to be O'chibi and Sakuno-chan's baby's _legal_ guardian!" Kikumaru ruffled Ryoma's hair.

Ryoma stiffened. He quickly shook Kikumaru off and walked out of the courts.

"Oi! Echizen, get back here!" Momoshiro yelled, but Fuji held him back.

"Let him be." Fuji whispered.

"Hmmm. After analyzing Ryoma's expression, I can say that there is a 98.2 percent chance that he is jealous." Inui pushed his glasses closer to his face.

"Jealous?" Momoshiro raised an eyebrow.

"He's jealous because he wants to be his child's _only_ guardian." Fuji explained.

"So are we being too selfish for wanting to be the baby's legal guardians?" Oishi glanced around worriedly.

Fuji sighed.

"Aw, poor O'chibi…" Kikumaru frowned. "Ne, Tezuka, are we hurting his feelings?"

"Do what you feel is right. And never leave your guard down. I'm leaving." Tezuka walked out of the courts.

"Call it off." Kaidoh murmured, and followed after Tezuka.

Momoshiro didn't try to stop him this time. Instead, he looked at Inui, Kikumaru, Oishi, and Fuji. (A/N: Kawamura is back at the restaurant, so that's why he isn't present.)

"What do you guys think?" Momoshiro asked.

"Well, I think Echizen needs to learn to get over his jealousy. It's for his own good." Fuji said sternly.

"I agree. If Echizen learns to overcome jealousy, his personality will improve by 73 percent.." Inui's glasses flashed.

"No, this is wrong. We should not be making him feel this way. I agree with Kaidoh, let's just forget about this legal guardian thing." Oishi shook his head.

"Nyahhh!! I really want to be a legal guardian though." Kikumaru complained.

"Eiji, we'll still be able to take care of the baby. It doesn't necessarily have to be legal." Oishi reasoned.

"But," Kikumaru's lip quivered. "Oh, fine! I guess we don't _have _to get papers signed."

"Momo, what do you think?" Fuji asked.

"I think," Momoshiro started, "I think I agree with Kaidoh. Lets call it off."

Fuji sighed. "I was excited."

"Me too, but we can't be so selfish." Momoshiro defended. "I'll call Echizen."

* * *

Ryoma sulked up the stairs to his room. 

_Those idiots._ He cursed.

He plopped down on his bed, but was startled by the sudden vibration from his bag. He fished out his cell phone and glanced at the caller ID.

Ryoma thought whether or not he should pick up. It was only Momoshiro, after all.

He let his cell phone vibrate on his bed and decided to take a short nap before dinner.

A few minutes later, his cell phone was vibrating again. Ryoma growled, and reached for his phone.

_Does he _not _know how to shut up?_ Ryoma prepared a string of curses for Momoshiro as he picked up the phone.

"What the hell do you want."

"Ryoma? Its me, Sakuno."

_Oh shit. Great job, Ryoma. It's your fiancée._

"Oh, hi."

"Are you okay? If this isn't a good time—,"

"No."

"What?"

"I mean, yes this is a good time. Is there anything you want?"

"Well, Momo just called me."

"And?"

"He says that they decided being legal guardians wasn't such a good idea after all."

"I see."

"Do you know why they would do that? They seemed so excited before…"

"They change their minds often."

"I hope it isn't because of something we did. Ryoma, did _you _tell them anything?"

"No."

"Then I wonder what went wrong, I honestly think it was a really good idea for them to be legal guardians."

"Hm."

"Oh! I've been meaning to ask you. What exactly happened this afternoon?"

"This afternoon?"

"Yeah. I said something about our wedding and everyone just got up and forced us to go home!"

"They want me to plan the reception, with their help."

"Oh. Then why didn't they just ask? They didn't have to go through all that trouble of taking me back home and asking you privately…"

"They're weird."

Sakuno chuckled. "Oh Ryoma. They were your sempais. Don't be so mean."

"They don't deserve it."

"Ok, ok. I know I'll never fully understand why you dislike them so much, but I know that deep down you actually _do_ care about them.

"Hn."

"Never mind, Ryoma. It's useless arguing with you."

"So can I plan the reception?"

"Of course you can."

"Ok."

"Alright, uhh, Ryoma, I have to go."

"I'll come pick you up tomorrow."

"Ok. Bye. I love you."

_-Click-_

"Hn."

Ryoma slowly closed his phone.

_They called it off?_

He was glad, of course. But over the phone he could hear the disappointment in Sakuno's voice. Apparently she had thought that having eight peculiar men sign papers for legal guardians was a good idea.

Ryoma couldn't decide what he should be caring about more:

_Sakuno's feelings or the baby's future?_

It was a tough decision.

Who knew what disturbing things those idiots could do to his son? They could probably corrupt the poor kid's entire brain functionality.

But Sakuno seemed so disappointed. Ryoma did not understand why they couldn't just hire a babysitter if they couldn't take care of the baby, but then he realized that he wouldn't want a complete stranger taking care of his son either.

All in all, he would much rather just Sakuno and himself taking care of the baby.

However, Ryoma also knew that both of them still needed to finish school, and he had a professional career to take care of.

Ryoma sighed. He flipped his phone open and dialed Momoshiro's number.

"Moshi Moshi?"

"Momo."

"ECHIZEN! Why didn't you pick up your phone before?"

"I was downstairs."

"Oh, well did Sakuno call you?"

"Yes."

"So you know that we called it off?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Are you happy?"

"No."

"Eh?! Why not? I thought you didn't want us to get them signed!"

"I never said that."

"So.."

"Get the damn papers signed tomorrow."

"Nani?? Really??!?!"

"I could change my mind."

"No. Wait. Don't."

"…"

"THIS IS BIG NEWS! I have to call everyone else. Thanks Echizen. Ja."

-_Click-_

Ryoma turned his phone off and threw it under his bed.

_Why was he so goddamn nice these days? _

**

* * *

**

"Oh Ryoma aren't you excited?" Sakuno tugged Ryoma into the hospital.

"No." Ryoma grumbled.

Sakuno rolled her eyes. "Stop being so stiff, would you? This is one step closer to finally starting our new family."

"It is?" Ryoma spotted the soon-to-be legal guardians of his son and grimaced at all their happy smiling faces.

"O'chibi! O'chibi! I was just telling everyone how you agreed to let us get the papers signed!!" Kikumaru screamed.

Patients in the waiting room turned their heads to stare at the maniac skipping across the hall to hug Ryoma.

"I'm so happy I could just kiss you!" Kikumaru squeeled. (A/N: Sorry if I make Kikumaru sound really gay. He just seems like that kind of a character to me…)

Ryoma instantly dodged Kikumaru's embrace, sending the red head crashing against the wall.

"Eh? Ano, Ryoma?" Sakuno asked.

"Hm?" Ryoma replied, still disgusted by Kikumaru's actions.

"I thought you said you didn't say anything about not letting them get the papers signed." Sakuno observed.

"I didn't." Ryoma murmured.

"Then how did they…"

"Easy. We figured it out on our own." Fuji interrupted.

"Oh?" Sakuno raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I calculated the angles of his eyebrows and lips every time the subject of signing the papers were brought up. According to my formulas, I was able to conclude that he was jealous 99.9 percent of the time." Inui stated proudly.

"Ahh.." Fuji agreed.

"Jealous? Really Ryoma?" Sakuno asked.

Ryoma, about to send another ridiculous number of curses towards Fuji, was interrupted when a nurse walked over.

She stared at her clipboard and gasped for a second, before looking back at Ryoma. "Echizen Ryoma?"

"What." Ryoma replied coldly, still angry with Fuji.

"W-We're ready f-for you in the o-office," she informed, gaping at Ryoma as she spoke.

"Come on," he grabbed Sakuno's hand, "Lets go."

"Minna-san, its time to go." Fuji waved towards the team, and they all followed the nurse down a hallway, receiving stares every step of the way.

The room they entered was plastered with pink unicorns and purple flowers. Little stuffed animals hung from the ceiling and a big, smiling sun poster was taped to the wall. The carpet was printed with miniature rainbows and cartoon clouds, all on a baby blue background. A sweet vanilla aroma filled the room, mixed in with the scents exerted from the fresh flowers placed on a desk; in front of the desk stood a man of about thirty, grinning wildly, just as his room was. He was rather plump, which unfortunately, leaked through some edges of his suit. His mass of red locks extenuated the brightness exploding from every crevice and curve on his face. His bright green eyes glimmered with happiness and joy as he handed a piece of candy to everyone who entered the room.

"Hello! I am Dr. Sato and I am honored to be of any service to you folks today!" Dr. Sato widened his smile.

"Wow, sensei! I love what you did to your room!" Kikumaru gazed in awe.

"Why, thank you! I love it too!" Dr. Sato squealed in delight.

"Excuse me," Sakuno tapped Dr. Sato's shoulder.

"Yes?" Dr. Sato replied.

"Ano, sensei, we have some papers to sign…" Sakuno began.

"Oh! The papers!" Dr. Sato took a stack of neatly stapled papers from his desk. "You guys all want to be daddies right? Well you are a lucky young lady to have so many men wanting to help you!"

Sakuno smiled.

Dr. Sato handed waddled around the room, handing papers to everyone, still smiling as he did so.

"Hey, handsome," Dr. Sato nudged Ryoma, "Take your paper."

"I don't need one." Ryoma replied, coldly.

"No?" Dr. Sato looked at him suspiciously.

"He's the baby's father, sensei." Sakuno explained.

"That's right!" Dr. Sato took Sakuno's arm and linked it with Ryoma's. "You two are just so cute! I need to get a picture of this.."

Dr. Sato snatched a camera from his desk and quickly took a photo before Ryoma could unlink his arm with Sakuno.

"Aww, I love young couples," Dr. Sato sighed.

"Me too!" Momoshiro looked up from his paperwork. "Finally, someone who agrees!"

"Ne, Oishi," Kikumaru stared at his paper confusingly.

"Yes, Eiji?" Oishi glanced over at Kikumaru's paper.

"I don't understand what all these lines are for… and why are there so many boxes?" Kikumaru pointed at his paper.

"Eiji…" Oishi sighed, "Here, I'll do it for you, just sign your name on these lines." Oishi pointed to several places on the paper and took it from Kikumaru.

"Sensei." Tezuka stood up.

"Ooh, and what would this handsome boy want?" Dr. Sato said excitedly.

"Here. Paper." Tezuka handed him the paper and sat back down.

"Sugoi Tezuka. You're already done." Kawamura praised.

"AND SO I MUST TRY HARDER… BUUURRRNNINGG!!" Kawamura shot sparks from the tip of his pencil as he sped through the paper, almost burning holes as he did so. "DONE."

"Well you are really something, aren't you?" Dr. Sato observed Kawamura's behavior.

"Here, sensei," Fuji handed the paper to Dr. Sato, "All done."

Dr. Sato held Fuji's paper, staring at him with confused eyes. "Something about you just makes me want to giggle."

"Nani?" Fuji looked suspiciously at Dr. Sato.

"Betsuni," Dr. Sato grabbed something from his desk and smacked it on Fuji's shirt.

Fuji stared at the shiny pink and yellow sticker and smiled. "I like it, arigatou sensei."

Dr. Sato laughed.

"Sensei, I am finished." Inui handed his paper to Dr. Sato who was still trying to catch his breath. He gasped after glancing at Inui's paper.

"This is amazing! You, young gentleman, are amazing! All these calculations and the precision in this paper is such a work of art!" Dr. Sato gleamed and kissed the paper.

"Arigatou," Inui bowed and retreated back to his notebook lying on his chair.

"Sensei! Here are our papers!! Do you like them too?" Kikumaru bounced in front of Dr. Sato, waving the papers in his face.

"Hmmm," Dr. Sato examined the papers, "Yes, well, they aren't as good as the other papers I saw, but, I absolutely love the signature here!" Dr. Sato pointed to Kikumaru's paper, beaming with delight.

"Me too! See, Oishi? I told you he would love my signature!" Kikumaru nodded, triumphantly.

"But Eiji! It's a picture of a cat, not a signature…" Oishi sighed.

"How can you say that?! He was being creative," Dr. Sato scolded, still smiling though.

"Yeah! Creative!" Kikumaru repeated.

"I. Will. Beat. You." Momoshiro ferociously signed the paper.

All eyes turned to the two immensely concentrated men in the back of the room.

"Done." Kaidoh murmured, and stood up to hand the paper to Dr. Sato.

"No way, not before me." Momoshiro shoved Kaidoh away and forced the paper in Dr. Sato's hands.

"Yarou…" Kaidoh hissed.

"Competition! This is interesting!" Dr. Sato said elatedly.

"Sensei," Sakuno stated.

"Yes, very pretty and lucky girl?" Dr. Sato replied.

"Her name is Sakuno," Ryoma growled.

"Ryoma, don't be rude," Sakuno murmured.

Ryoma rolled his eyes.

Sakuno ignored him. "Sensei, arigatou for your help today. Is it okay for us to leave now?"

"Oh no need for thanks! You are all a very lovely group of people. You may take your leave, though I do hope that you will take a group picture with me!" Dr. Sato pleaded.

"O-Ok," Sakuno shrugged.

"I'm leaving," Ryoma stated.

"Oh come on, Ryoma. Just this once," Sakuno urged.

Ryoma frowned. "Fine."

"Arigatou," Sakuno kissed him on the cheek.

-_flash-_

"That was beautiful, I'm almost in tears!" Dr. Sato exclaimed. "You two are just too cute!"

Ryoma glared at him, murderously.

_He really _did _hate doctors._

* * *

A/N- I have to admit that the ending is a bit abrupt (sorry), and some things that came out of Kikumaru and Dr. Sato's mouth were a bit too corny. 

So corny, I almost puked when I read it.

However, changing it would be almost impossible for me.

I might just be the most annoying and corny author on FF…

Please review.

Thanks.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Wow, how long has it been since I last updated?

Sorry for the extremely long hiatus; I hope it won't hinder any of my past readers from reading this story.

This document, well a rough version of it, has been in my computer for a while. I kind of edited/revised it here and there, but I can't really add any substance to this chapter. I'm sort of running out of eventful ideas, so you can just label this as the "falling action" chapter =) Ah, it's hard to explain; you'll understand when you read it haha  
Also, I hope the story still sounds consistent and not completley different from previous chapters. I assumed that I still remembered my own story...

To my past readers, I hope time hasn't changed any of your mindsets about this story, and Thank You for your support!

Please enjoy!

* * *

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

Ryoma smiled at the finished documents. He was quite proud of them, actually.

He laid his head down on the bed. Now that he was done planning the reception and undercover baby shower, all he had left to do was wait. In just a week he would be getting—

_Married._Ryoma suddenly sat up. "Oh shit."

--

"Ryoma, calm down. I-It's nothing big." Momoshiro called from the other side of the tennis court. Beads of sweat beat down his forehead and tears streamed down from his swollen eyes.

"Just one more game." Ryoma murmured.

"No please! You guys, help me out here!" Momoshiro called to the rest of the team.

"No way! It's your turn!" Kikumaru shouted.

"I'm serving." Ryoma reminded Momoshiro.

Ryoma was nervous. _Beyond_ nervous.

Momoshiro caught the serve, but gave a loud yelp when the racket flew out of his hand. The ball through to the other side of the fence.

"Echizen! That was my last racket!"

"NEXT!" Ryoma shouted to the other teammates.

"S-Sorry. But you broke our rackets too." Kawamura walked cautiously up to Ryoma. The other teammates carefully followed.

"Where's Tezuka and Fuji? I want to verse them."

"They had some college business to take care of."

"Ne, Ochibi. Take a break." Kikumaru whimpered. "Please, if not for your sake, than for our sake!"

Suddenly, the tennis court gate opened. Sakuno waddled onto the courts, grinning and waving generously at the group.

"Sakuno?" Ryoma glanced past his surprised, but still complaining tennis victims and made eye contact with his fiancée.

"Ahh.. Young— mph."

"Don't say it." Kaidoh grumbled.

"Why you…" Momoshiro grabbed Kaidoh's shirt.

"Hey, knock it off guys." Oishi separated Momoshiro and Kaidoh. "Jeez, you're already college _men_…"

Ryoma agreed silently. Some people never mature.

"Hey—," Sakuno began.

"So now you think you're better than us?!" Kaidoh growled at Oishi.

"Ryo—,"

"N-No. It's just, college men are supposed to…" Oishi trembled.

"Supposed to what?!" Momoshiro shouted. "We ARE college men, but we're also manly men. We fight when we piss each other off!"

"Calm down you guys, please." Kawamura patted Momoshiro's shoulder.

"'Momoshiro calls Kaidoh and himself, '_manly men'_.' " Inui scribbled in his notebook. "Interesting."

"Ryoma." Sakuno finally managed a small skip-walk towards Ryoma and clasped her hand around his wrist.

"Kawaii!!" Kikumaru squealed. He giggled loudly as he cuddled Ryoma and Sakuno in his chest.

"Sakuno." Ryoma tugged his fiancé out of Kikumaru's embrace while sending death glares at Kikumaru.

"I just wanted to see you before the wedding rehearsal tomorrow." Sakuno smiled.

"NOOO!!" A huge uproar erupted from the fallen tennis players.

"Don't remind him of that…" Momoshiro cried.

"What?" Sakuno asked curiously.

"Scaredy cat O'chibi is murdering all of us in tennis to vent out his nervousness before the—,"

"Let's go." Ryoma interrupted Kikumaru and led Sakuno out of the tennis courts.

After a wave of hoots and whistles, Ryoma and Sakuno safely escaped in Ryoma's car.

"Where are we going?" Sakuno asked.

"I have to show you something."

"What is it?"

"You'll see."

"You should know I don't like surprises."

"You'll like this one."

"What makes you think I'll like it?"

"Because I picked it out."

"Just because _you_ picked it doesn't mean _I'll_ like it."

Ryoma smirked. "We're almost there."

Sakuno stared closely at the surroundings and realized they were driving up a long driveway. Cherry blossom trees lined the curb and beyond the trees was a vast grassy area. As Ryoma drove further up, Sakuno noticed a house located at the end of the path—a big… really _big_ house.

"Ryoma…that's a house." Sakuno breathed.

"What else would it be?"

"You bought a HOUSE?"

Ryoma parked at the end of the driveway and walked around to open the door for Sakuno. "Every family needs a house," he said while helping Sakuno out of her seat.

"This is…" Sakuno stared speechlessly at the house. She had been living in small townhouses her entire life and the size of the house was almost dream-like to Sakuno. She gaped, staring in awe at the magnificence radiating from the building.

"Like it?" Ryoma asked.

"Well… it's big." Sakuno blinked out of her trance.

"It's not that big."

"Looks big to me."

"To _you_."

"Baka." Sakuno wrapped her arms around Ryoma as best as she could without squishing her belly. "I love it."

Ryoma smirked.

"Ryoma?" Sakuno released her arms from Ryoma waist. "What exactly are you nervous about?"

Ryoma's face immediately flushed to a colorless shade.

"What's this?" Sakuno gently placed her hand on Ryoma's heart and leaned her ear into his chest. "Your heart beat is faster than usual."

Ryoma remained silent.

Sakuno took Ryoma's hand and placed it on her heart as well. "Don't worry, Ryoma. I'm just as nervous as you are."

Ryoma's complexion softened as he felt Sakuno's heart pulsing beneath his palm. Each pulse grew faster and faster as Sakuno's lips gently danced across his.

--

Pre-wedding jitters killed. Sakuno felt like she was going to have the baby, right there, in the bridal room.

"How many more minutes, how many more minutes," Sakuno repeated over and over through a series of panicked breathing.

"Sakuno, Sakuno." Tomoka shook Sakuno's shoulders. "God damn it, listen to me!"

"How many more minutes…" Sakuno continued blankly.

"Shit Sakuno. You have five minutes." Tomoka stressed.

"Here, let me talk to her." An walked Sakuno to a nearby chair and knelt down in front of her. "Focus, Sakuno."

"I…"

"It's natural to be nervous. Just use all those nerves to build up your excitement." An explained. "It's _your _Big day and you wouldn't want a bunch of nerves to get in the way of that, would you?"

"I…"

"Two minutes!" Tomoka called.

"C'mon Sakuno." An helped Sakuno out of the chair. "Focus on Ryoma-san. Focus."

Sakuno slowly walked to the giant wooden doors. The doors opened and she closed her eyes. All was silent. Sakuno took a few quick breaths and reopened her eyes, stepping onto the aisle just as the music began to play.

She saw nothing. No roses. No people. No carpet. No piano. No baskets. Nothing except those bright honey orbs, tempting her to take the next step, urging her to stay strong and focused.

Every word the priest said was barely audible. Sakuno could only keep staring. She moved her lips only to say a quiet "I do" and to take in oxygen every time she forgot to breathe.

--

Ryoma grabbed Sakuno's hand and almost dragged her down the aisle. Sakuno felt her blood slowly begin circulating again as she found the strength to step into the limousine.

"Where are we going?" Sakuno inched closer to Ryoma.

"The reception."

"You planned it, right?"

Ryoma nodded.

Sakuno leaned her head against Ryoma's chest, listening to his heart beat.

--

"Sakuno, wake up."

Sakuno squinted as she tried to open her eyes to the sunlight.

"Wait, close your eyes."

"I'm still not much a fan of surprises."

"You'll like it."

Sakuno sighed and closed her eyes. "Only because you're my husband now."

Ryoma smiled as he opened the door and walked around the limo to help Sakuno get out. He carefully walked her across the sand and softly whispered to open her eyes.

The dark blue sea glistened in the afternoon sun. Four tall fire torches outlined a large rectangle on the beach and a huge banner was strung to volleyball net, reading, "JUST MARRIED AND IT'S A BOY!!" Under a huge tent stood two tables, one marked 'baby' and another marked 'wedding'. On a transparent crystal stand stood the most beautiful cake Sakuno had ever seen. It had to be at least six layers tall. Every other layer was silver and the rest was covered in diamond and golden pearls. A bride and groom figurine stood at the very top and Sakuno smiled, noticing a small baby sitting in front of the bride.

Two long tables all covered with food and refreshments stood in an adjacent tent; butlers dressed in sleek tuxedos stood next to the food and refreshment tables. Little round tables decorated with silver center pieces sat under the tent as well.

"You planned a reception _and _a baby shower?!

Ryoma smirked. He held on to Sakuno's hand and ushered her further into the beach. A crowd of men immediately grabbed onto Sakuno and sat her down behind a large table decorated with flowers. Ryoma glared at Fuji who seemed to be the leader behind Sakuno's abduction.

"She's the most important person here today, Echizen." Fuji smiled.

"Che."

"But O'Chibi is just as important too!" Kikumaru shoved Ryoma into a seat next to Sakuno.

"This is amazing…" Sakuno whispered into Ryoma's ear. "Thank--…"

Suddenly, Sakuno winced and clutched her stomach, bending over in pain. A large puddle of water sank into the sand where Sakuno was crouching.

"Sakuno!" Ryoma grabbed Sakuno's shoulders.

"Ryoma…it hurts…" Sakuno breathed heavily.

* * *

A/N: Oh no, she's going into labor! THANKS for reading and hopefully this chapter wasn't disappointing!

I think the story will end in either the next chapter or the chapter after that =). Uhm, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted, as I have not started writing it yet.

...Maybe your reviews will give me the motivation to update sooner! =P


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Wow. I started this story way back in 2007... When I first entered high school. It's so crazy that I'm already graduating this year, really, it has been quite a journey.

This was just a little wrap up to everything, short and sweet- nothing too dramatic although I can't deny the bits of cheese I added here and there.

Thanks for everything, everyone.

Disclaimer: My story, not my characters.

* * *

**And Yet**

**Special Circumstances**

"Sakuno? Ne, Sakuno?"

"Mmmm?" Sakuno lifted her heavy eye lids and squinted at the burst of light. She noticed the room was completely white, bathed in a rush of sunlight emitting from a window in one of the walls. A crib with glass sides and metal legs stood opposite the window, near the door.

Inside the crib, a small bundle wrapped in a light blue blanket gently moved up and down…_Breathing._

"Good morning, Sakuno."

"Ryoma…" Sakuno smiled softly at Ryoma and shifted her glance towards the crib.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ryoma sat on the edge of Sakuno's bed and looked intently at her. He liked having control over things, but when Sakuno had suddenly gone into labor at the wedding reception/baby shower, Ryoma could do nothing but _watch_ the paramedics tend to his wife.

Even worse, Sakuno had fainted right after she gave birth.

"Only a little tired, but don't worry. I'm just happy the baby seems to be healthy." Sakuno sat up slightly on her bed.

The baby was early. Way too early. Before Sakuno woke up, the doctors had performed several treatments on the baby to help sustain his life. They also ran numerous checks to make sure the baby didn't carry any defects or diseases that may be detrimental to his health. As Ryoma walked over to the crib, he realized that it may have actually been beneficial to Sakuno's health that she was unconscious while the baby was still in critical condition. The anxious waiting behind closed surgical doors would have been too stressful for a woman who had just given birth.

Ryoma leaned over the crib and scooped a small, light blue bundle into his arms. "Do you want to carry him?"

Sakuno eagerly nodded. Ryoma walked back to Sakuno's bed, holding their son in his arms. Gently, he transferred the bundle into Sakuno's warm embrace.

"Oh, I think he's waking up." Sakuno caressed the baby's cheek. "I can tell that he's going to look so much like you."

"Really?" Ryoma peered into Sakuno's arms. The baby had a thin mass of dark green hair and, although they were barely open, Ryoma could see the baby's bright, auburn eyes. His small fingers were curled at his mouth as he glanced shyly at his parents.

"Ryoma," Sakuno glanced worriedly at her husband. "What did the doctors say about him?"

Ryoma sat next to Sakuno's pillow and softly stroked her hair. "He's early, but they said if he's given the proper treatments, he'll turn out like a normal boy."

Sakuno let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I'm sorry everything turned out like this."

"Sakuno, right now," Ryoma walked over to the water dispenser and filled up a cup of warm water. "I just need you to be healthy. Don't worry about anything else." He looked at her from the other side of the room with as gentle a gaze as his fierce cat eyes would allow.

"Ryoma…"

Ryoma walked back over to Sakuno's bed with the cup of water in his hand. "Here, I'll take him for now. You should drink this."

Sakuno slowly slid the baby into Ryoma's arms and took a sip of the water. Even though the water was warm, she felt a cool, refreshing sensation in the back of her throat. She looked up at Ryoma and smiled. "Thanks."

Ryoma, who had been staring at his child while Sakuno was drinking, looked back at Sakuno and held her gaze in a warm, but momentary silence.

"Hello?" There was a knock at the door. "Can we come in? It's time for the baby to receive the next treatment."

"Oh." Ryoma opened the door and a group of nurses walked in, followed by a doctor.

"Hello, Mrs. Echizen." The doctor greeted Sakuno. "It's great to see that you are awake."

Sakuno bowed in her laying position. "Thank you for taking care of my son and me, Doctor."

"Ah, no problem," the doctor shifted his gaze towards the child in Ryoma's arms, "speaking of your son, did your husband explain the situation yet?"

Sakuno nodded. "Yes. I am so sorry for the inconvenience I have caused."

Ryoma glared at Sakuno. That was just the one thing that bothered him. Sakuno was always too apologetic, always taking the blame on herself when it clearly wasn't her fault.

"No, not at all. We will try our best to make your son healthy." The doctor nodded at the nurses. Recognizing their cue, the nurses walked towards Ryoma and took the baby from his arms. They placed the baby into a crib they had rolled in from outside the door.

"We'll be done in an hour or so, but the baby will have to remain the rest of the day in our nurse's care in case anything should go wrong." The Doctor explained with a stern voice, but paused when he saw Sakuno's despondent expression. "Everything will be alright, Mrs. Echizen. Your baby will be safe in our care and if all goes well, you will be able to take him home in two weeks."

"T-thank you so much for your care." Sakuno smiled through teary eyes.

The Doctor bowed and motioned for the nurses to roll the crib out of the room.

Sakuno let out a loud sigh, laid her head back down on the pillow and turned her head towards Ryoma. "Ryoma…I'm so sorry. If anything happens-"

"Sakuno," Ryoma interrupted. "It's not your fault, okay?"

Sakuno frowned. "Still…"

"The doctors here are reliable." Ryoma leaned in towards Sakuno. "Have a little faith."

Sakuno stared deeply into the pools of Ryoma's eyes. A surge of emotions sped throughout her body and the anxiety of possibly losing her baby left her conscience. Despite the cold intimidation that Ryoma's stares were so infamous for, Sakuno actually felt comforted and warm as she looked closer into Ryoma's eyes.

Sakuno was so immersed that she didn't even realize how close to his face she had moved. Ryoma twitched an eyebrow as Sakuno continued to inch nearer to his face. Smiling to himself, he closed his eyes and gave Sakuno a gentle peck on the lips. "You should really get some more rest now."

The moment Ryoma finished his sentence, a loud, grumbling sound came from under Sakuno's blanket. Sakuno's cheeks, still flushed from the kiss, turned several hues darker as she giggled at her own incompetence. "Not yet, I'm a little hungry."

Ryoma smirked. "Do you think you're able to walk? There's a café downstairs."

"Ano…" Sakuno sat up and turned her body sideways so that her legs were dangling form the side of the bed. "Yup, let's go." She slipped her feet into the cotton white slippers on the side of her bed and linked onto Ryoma's arm.

Ryoma took his jacket off and wrapped it around Sakuno's shoulders. Then he wrapped his arms around her to bring her even closer to him. "Alright, but we're going to go slowly."

Sakuno giggled quietly at Ryoma and allowed him to lead her towards the café. They passed by doctors, nurses, and other patients in the hallway, who all turned their heads to admire the couple walking so closely together.

As Sakuno and Ryoma entered the cafe area, they spotted a large group of their friends sitting in the lounge next to the cafe. They seemed to be talking very animately and none of them noticed Sakuno and Ryoma enter the cafe.

"Oi aren't you two both medical students?" Momoshiro gestured towards Fuji and Tezuka. "How do you think she is?"

Fuji sighed and looked at Tezuka. Tezuka, crossed his arms and remained silent.

"Well, Sakuno-chan should be okay, but the baby…"

"Nyahhh…." Kikumaru lowered his chin to the table. "I wanna see the baby!"

"Eiji," Oishi shook his head. "What's more important is, how is Sak-"

"SAKUNO-CHAAAAANNNNN!" Kikumaru leapt out of his seat and bounced towards Sakuno.

"Sakuno-chan!" An, Tomoka, and Horio followed suit as they bounded towards the entrance of the café.

Ryoma still had his arms around Sakuno's shoulders, but was pushed pretty far off of her by the time Kikumaru had managed to get his hands on her. "Oi monkey boy…" Ryoma glared.

"Sakuno-chan! Sakuno-chan!" Kikumaru hugged Sakuno tightly. "Are you okay? How's the baby? Is he cute? Ah, he's probably cute since you and O'Chibi are so cute."

Sakuno just smiled and giggled in Kikumaru's arms. "Haiiii sempai."

"Sakuno!" Tomoka ripped Kikumaru off and took Sakuno into her own arms.

"Hey!" Kikumaru pouted feeling slightly offended but the aggressive girl.

"Tomo-chan," Sakuno hugged her friend tightly. "I'm alright, so please don't stress over me."

"Oh Saku-chan." Tomoka cried into Sakuno's shoulder and held her even tighter.

Ryoma who had been watching his wife get raped by two people already had just about had enough. He made his presence known as he walked over to Sakuno and swiftlly slipped her out from Tomoka's grasp. "Hey! I was still hugging her!" Tomoka whined.

"Oh Tomoka, you gotta give the girl some space." An smiled at Ryoma and Sakuno. "Hey, I'm glad you're okay, Sakuno."

"Thank you An-chan," Sakuno bowed. "At the wedding and also for being here, thank you."

"My," Horio stepped out with a confident look on his face. "My years of experience as a hospital volunteer tell me that –mph."

Tomoka slapped a hand over Horio's mouth and dragged him towards the exit of the hospital. "Sorry Sakuno-chan! I couldn't take off from work, so I have to go now…I'll come see you again tomorrow, okay?" Tomoka shouted back at Sakuno whilst trying to keep Horio from speaking.

"Hai, thank you! Tomo-chan!" Sakuno smiled.

"She wanted to wait until you were conscious." An walked up to Sakuno and gave her a quick hug. "I have to go too, but I'll definitely come back to visit, so take care of yourself alright?"

Sakuno nodded. "Thank you again."

"Is it my turn again?" Kikumaru jumped up and down. "More hugs! More hugs!"

Ryoma shot a piercing glare at Kikumaru and put his arms around Sakuno.

"Hey O'chibi, that's not fair!"

"From my calculations, Echizen's possessive nature has increased by one-hundred twenty percent." Inui poked his head from behind Kaidoh. Kaidoh twitched for a moment when he suddenly saw the data man appear in the periphery of his vision.

"Echizen! You better be taking good care of you wife, you little bastard." Momoshiro squeezed Ryoma's neck in his arm and knuckle-sandwiched his head.

Ryoma felt Sakuno escape from under his arms again. From the corner of his eye, he saw Fuji give him a sadistic smile as he hugged Sakuno tightly.

"Sakuno-chan, you should've seen Echizen after you fainted from labor." Fuji winked at Ryoma.

"Ne?" Sakuno glanced over at Ryoma who was still caught in Momoshiro's grasps.

"He was a mess, you know." Fuji smiled.

"Momo…Get off of me." Ryoma gave Fuji a menacing glare.

"Come on, Echizen! I was just worried about you, man." Momoshiro said with an offended undertone as Ryoma completely ignored him and headed in Fuji's direction.

Before Ryoma could save Sakuno from Fuji's sadistic remarks, however, a tall shadow loomed into his field of view.

"Echizen." Tezuka stared with arms crossed over his chest. "Go forth with—.."

"Sorry Tezuka." Ryoma interrupted. "I don't have time for this right now." He nudged past an extremely shocked Tezuka and made his way to Sakuno.

"Ah, better run now." Fuji smiled and stepped towards the exit. "Congratulations on your new family! I'll be back to visit soon.."

"Fuji-san!" Sakuno called after him but the door had already closed. "Thank you for coming," she softly muttered.

"Hn." Ryoma brushed up against Sakuno's arm. "What did he say to you?"

Sakuno shook her head. "Nothing really."

"What's in the bag?" Ryoma motioned towards the plastic bag he had seen Fuji hand to Sakuno before leaving.

"Oh this!" Sakuno smiled. "It's from Kawamura-san since he had to work and couldn't make it today. I think it's sushi."

"Ah. I'll hold on to it. Ryoma took the bag from Sakuno's hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, but still hungry." Sakuno blushed.

Ryoma smirked. He placed the plastic bag down at a nearby table and pulled out a chair. "We'll sit here."

"Thanks, Ryoma." Sakuno sat down as Ryoma pushed her chair in.

Ryoma walked around to the other side of the table and took out a Styrofoam box from inside the plastic bag.

"Wahhh~" Sakuno's mouth watered as Ryoma opened the box. "This sushi is so beautifully made."

Ryoma nodded in agreement. He picked up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks and held it up in front of Sakuno. "Here."

Sakuno ate the sushi in one bite and smiled brightly as she chewed. "It's delicious."

Ryoma smiled.

Meanwhile, Kikumaru was on the floor laughing and crying, while pointing an unsteady finger at Tezuka's expression. "Shot downnnnnnn~~~~~"

"Eiji!" Oishi urged Kikumaru to stop. "Don't be so disrespectful."

Momoshiro, who also witnessed Tezuka's first rejection, slapped Tezuka on the back and smirked. "Sorry Cap'n. Echizen's not the same boy from Seigaku anymore. He has other concerns he has to put above himself and other people."

Tezkua let out a shallow sigh. Ryoma always accepted his strong words of encouragement obediently and he never knew the day would come when Ryoma would actually reject him. He glanced over at Ryoma happily placing a piece of sushi in Sakuno's mouth. Sure enough, Ryoma definitely wasn't the same kid from Seigaku anymore. "Let's go. We are disturbing the peace here."

"Wah already?" Kikumaru pouted. "Look at O'chibi feeding Sakuno-chan… he never fed me even when I begged."

"Come on, Eiji." Oishi pulled Kikumaru's arm. "You guys too, Momoshiro, Inui, Kaidoh."

Ryoma glanced over as he saw his former teammates quietly making their way to the exit. He let out a loud sigh and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Thanks for coming."

Sakuno quickly turned around and said goodbye as well.

The seven men all looked back and waved as they closed the doors behind them.

"I'm so glad they came." Sakuno smiled.

Ryoma picked up another piece of sushi and held it in front of Sakuno's mouth. "Here."

Sakuno happily opened her mouth for the sushi and quickly chewed it down. "Oh by the way," Sakuno said curiously, "did my grandma drop by?"

"Yeah she did, but you were still unconscious." Ryoma explained. "My parents and a lot of other people were here too, but the hospital staff only let one person stay with you overnight. I insisted on being the one to stay in your room, so most of them left last night."

"Oh okay."

"They're probably going to come sometime today, so you'll see her soon." Ryoma assured Sakuno.

"That's fine, I was just curious." Sakuno shrugged. "Also, Ryoma?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been wondering about this for a while and I know we should probably wait until he's healthier, but what should we name our baby?"

"Oh… that," Ryoma smirked. "Definitely something strong."

"Yeah but I also want it to have an all around good meaning. So he becomes a strong, but good-natured person."

"Haru…"

"ki?"

"Haruki. Echizen Haruki."

"I like it. It means 'shining sun', which is both strong and warm."

"Strong," Ryoma smirked, "…and warm. Very fitting."

"Then it's settled!" Sakuno clapped her hands together. "Haruki. Our own son, Haruki."

A moment passed as Sakuno and Ryoma both carefully examined the pools of each other's eyes.

Sakuno sighed. "I feel kind of nervous."

Ryoma looked at Sakuno worriedly. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no it's not that." Sakuno shook her head. "I'm talking about being parents…I'm nervous. I don't know if I can be a good mom yet, and my mom passed away when I was young so I'm just scared I'll do things the wrong way and—"

Ryoma placed his hand on top of Sakuno's hand. "It's okay, Sakuno. It's okay."

"Ryoma, you know, looking around here, we're probably the youngest parents…" Sakuno scanned the café and lobby area, watching as pregnant woman who were at least in their twenties and thirties stroll around with their husbands.

"So?" Ryoma stood up and pulled his chair around next to Sakuno. He sat down close to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Worrying like this isn't good for your health."

Sakuno leaned her head into Ryoma's chest. "I know, sorry. I really don't understand how you can be so calm though."

"Mada mada dane."

"Hey," Sakuno pushed herself away from Ryoma and crossed her arms. "Well tell me your secret then. We're not even twenty yet and I'm still in college. It's the prime of your tennis career and now we have newborn baby to take care of. Ryoma, I'm just scared that we'll make horrible mistakes as parents."

"We won't." Ryoma stared fiercely at Sakuno. "Be confident."

"It's just… I don't know. I don't want to disappoint Haruki or you," Sakuno whispered, "because I love the both of you so much.

"That's enough then." Ryoma pulled Sakuno back into his chest and stroked her shoulder. "Just remember that and you'll be fine."

Sakuno nodded into Ryoma's chest and closed her eyes.

Of course Ryoma was nervous. He was going to have to start supporting his own family and taking on the role of a father. Sighing, Ryoma leaned into the back of the chair, propped his head on top of Sakuno's head, and closed his eyes.

And yet, despite their worries, Ryoma and Sakuno both so desperately wanted to love and cherish their new family. Their future hardships were inevitable, but having trusted each other all this way, neither of the two wanted to disappoint Haruki; After all, they were real parents now.

* * *

A/N: That's all folks! Thanks to the readers who followed me all this way, it's been a pleasure.

I'm finally letting Ryoma and Sakuno conquer the world on their own now. I can kind of relate, since I'm going to college this year.

We're all entering a new life chapter, a bit nervous and unsure, but excited nonetheless.

Once again, thank you all my readers and reviewers!

~Special Circumstances


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